


Ichigo Sunada & Her Downward Spire

by PlusParsnips



Category: Original Work
Genre: ABDL, Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Battle, Bed-Wetting, Blood and Injury, Breastfeeding, Bullying, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Diapers, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fainting, Fantastic Racism, Fantasy, Fantasy Races, Farting, Humiliation, Kemonomimi, Light BDSM, Magic, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mild S&M, Mystery, Omorashi, Overweight, Rating: M, Urination, Wetting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 66,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23324461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlusParsnips/pseuds/PlusParsnips
Summary: Princess Ichigo Sunada is a troubled child...err, a child in trouble. In the midst of failing her coming-of-age ceremony, she finds herself whisked away to a magical spire high above the clouds. Alone, scared, and well out of her element, can anyone blame her for feeling helpless and...acting childish..?Along the way down, if she ever hopes to contact the outside world once more, she will have to meet unfamiliar faces, learn a new spell or two, face her fears, become a stronger, more confident lady. And realize that NONE of that stuff will ease her ever-present, crippling anxieties, overcome the devious contraptions and machinations of the spire and its owners, or...deal with her decreasing control over her own bladder.It's not easy being a crown princess, and it quickly appears to the little Sunada that she's in a world of hurt, diapers, and other horrors....Perhaps with the occasional hug, headpat, and other comforts.
Kudos: 12





	1. Ichigo Sunada's Precious Little Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo Sunada and her entourage are all getting ready for her ceremony. The only one not ready is...Ichigo herself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm PlusParsnips, amateur fetish writer in the making!  
> I've decided to break loose a lot of my inhibitions starting this year and try my hand at writing, if only to make scenes I want to see...in proper formatting, spelling, and grammar...  
> In all seriousness, I wanted to tell a story about a princess finding herself in trouble and needing to buckle down and pull up her big girl pants/panties/diapers if she hopes to surpass her own flaws. I also want to work on my worldbuilding and fantasy writing skills as much as learning to self-indulge.
> 
> I have a lot planned, and I hope I can keep a consistent update schedule and not abandon this thanks to laziness, shame, or paranoia. But enough about me, you go all enjoy the first two chapters of Ichigo Sunada! See you all soon!

Many hands rustle, comb, and braid together the young girl's messy, floor-length hair. Several maidens struggle to keep the girl in her seat as her neck is pulled to and fro, back and forth. She’s in borderline tears as the shark-tooth comb does another run-through, just as two more maidens pull down on both sides of her head! Even for a princess of the Iozario Peninsula, this is too much!

“Yyeeeaaaowwwccchhh!!!” she screeches as she begins to kick her legs, nearly clocking one of her handmaidens in the forehead.

“Milady Ichigo! Please sit still! We are almost done!” pleads the head maid, cowering back from her charge’s outburst. “I promise you, will only take just a tad longer!”  
A tad longer, a tad longer she says. It was only “a tad longer” when Ichigo Sunada had to have her face buried under 3 layers of makeup and sun decals. It was only “a tad longer” when the girl had to have her plumpness groped and molested by measuring rope, forced to stand a stillness statues would envy. It was only “a tad longer” when she had to miss her morning meal, all to make sure her each of her five handmaidens could focus all their energy into getting ready for their lady’s big day. If she could will it, she would bar the words “a tad longer” from being uttered ever again in her presence… Not that she wants anyone this close in her presence again.

But all she can do right now is hold back her tears. Crying will only make her helpers look down on her, treat her like a baby, not the crown princess of the eastern bloc of Iozario. Not someone who is about to undergo her coming-of-age ceremony. Crying will just start to run her makeup, and only the Lords of Hell will make her spend another hour doing that. All she can is hope that her maidens just take “only a tad longer” so that she can finally rest…

“DONE!” shouts the short handmaid!  
“Milady’s hair has been tamed.” calmly speaks the tall one, her black tail proudly wags.  
“No more bows, thank the goddess!” chants the eldest one, raising her holy symbol towards the heavens.  
“Almost… got… iiitttttt…” struggles the little one, her whiskers pushing against Ichigo’s rosy, swollen cheeks as she plucks one last eyelash from her lady. “Done…!”  
“And finally…” says the head maid, her humongous rabbit-like ears flops to her side as she slides the last ring onto Ichigo’s bushy backside. “Milady’s tail is under control. You may finally rise, my dear.”

And rise Ichigo did, stumbling out her cushioned, peach wood vanity stool. She hobbles towards her mirror, struggling to move her stubby, black-stripped furred legs underneath the oversized, poofy, purple-and-white dress robes. The gilded mirror reflects back the image of a young ny’oni woman, whose solemn, tired expression betrays her regal look. The ruby-red face paint spiraled around her grey eyes and chubby, quivering cheeks. Her thick, black whiskers, normally zigging-and-zagging all across her face, have been patted down flat thanks to snow-white powder that blankets her face, powder so thick it somehow hid her wire-thin glasses. Her black, right fox ear popped up above her twin-braided, drowning in bows, bright orange hair as they droop over her shoulders, reaching all the way to her shins, despite her maids’ best effort. Her white ear joins her pillowy bosom in rising and lowering to her rapid pants, the speed of them greatly increasing the longer Ichigo stares at herself in the mirror. What she sees in this mirror is what the golden fox bust perched on top sees, what her maids see, what everyone in the capitol will see when she arrives. Soon the whole world of Pent will see this short, awkward, lazy, scared princess botch her walk down the rode, ruining the parade, fail her coming-of-age, and bring even more shame than this mutt of the Sunada family has already wrought upon them…

Ichigo kneels down, her ring-tied tail wildly jingles in complete fright. She begins to dry heave, clutching her pouchy stomach as the whole world begins to collapse on the poor girl underneath her feet. Her vision begins to double, blurring over as it fades and her head begins to meet the wooden floor… only to be caught by soft hands.

“Milady! Milady!! Calm down, calm down! Breathe, dear!” The head maid shouts sternly, both as a direct order and a panicked cry for help. She wraps her strong arms and floppy ears around the fainting princess, smothering her face into her over-sized chest. “Lin, boil up her tea, pronto! Daisy, find her biscuits! Alba, get her a pillow, softest you can find!”

  
“Roger!” shouts the tall, short, and little handmaidens as they rush to their positions, the clicks of heels and flutters of red robes fly about the place.

“Umi--!”

  
“Of course, Master Savanna. We are already on it.” The eldest maid rotates Ichigo out of Savanna’s arms, moves Ichigo's onto her heart, places her own, illuminated hands right on top and begins to pray, humming a soft tune as she lowers her head. The tune begins to reverbate in Ichigo’s head, thoughts of “Soothe” begins to flood over the panic overwhelming her mind. Her breathing stabilizes, her eyes begins to roll forward instead of back, her vision correcting itself. She begins to see the two maids as they are, no longer appearing as dark horrifying figures. Ichigo rolls back her head into Savanna’s lap, letting herself be comforted by the head maid’s great body. Savanna sighs in relief… and in frustration.

“…I told that woman she isn’t ready. Her damned heart was punching mine!” groans Savanna, rubbing Ichigo’s temples.  
“And all the Gods know you tried,” Umi says, shaking back and forth her elderly head. “But did you honestly thought the Queen was going to change her--”  
“No…! No… Just… don’t need to remind me.” Savanna wants to rub her own temples. Ichigo’s mother always been a stern woman, always trying to rush the girl from birth to something approaching greatness, perhaps to make up for how much of a mutt she was. But Savanna knew better, the day Ichigo was born, she knew better. Even when Savanna herself was just a teenaged ny’oni, she knew that only she will ever truly accept Ichigo as she was, not as some illegitimate bastard, not as the third-in-line to the throne, not as the daughter of the Queen and her concubine, not as some cross-bred mutt, but a girl that needs every bit of love and support as everyone else. Perhaps even more. Perhaps even as her…

“Momma…” coos Ichigo, her first words all morning. Even in her stupor, she realizes the slight mistake she made. Savanna is a great maid, not her mother! She doesn't even look like her mother, or at least how she always imagined how she looks like. Ichigo attempts to course-correct, hoping that no one heard her make such a faux-pas. She points towards the doorway of the room. “Pot… The pot…”

“Pot?” Savanna questions, right before hearing the shrill screeching of the teapot as Lin rushes in with it, balancing it on a book that is red hot. “Oh, teapot! It’s ready, Lin?”  
Ichigo wonders if the head maid heard what she said before, but the growing headache stops her from worrying such.

  
“Just about” sternly says the tall woman, a black mask covering her face. She thumps her wolf tail on the floor twice, popping up three tea cups and several tea bags that was hidden within the fluff. She sets aside and adorns her supplies across the floor next to Ichigo, letting her feel the warmth radiating off of them.

  
“Milady Ichigo! Milady Ichigo!” rushes in Alba, carrying in a stuffed brown bear larger than she or Ichigo is on her back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I saw that your pillow was in the wash, and-and I didn’t know what to do, so-so I… I… He is my favorite, so I hope he helps you sleep!”

“Alba! You just could have give her your pillow!” Savanna gives an irate glare to the littlest maid, looking like she's ready to pounce on her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, boss!! I panicked, okay!? You said softest you could find, so I got the softest being I know of! No pillow matches Vinny!”

“Now, now, you two.” Umi chastises the both of the maids. “Why don’t we all focus on Ichigo’s health, instead of who can do what exactly as whom intended. The gods would not enjoy such bickering, seeing that a child of theirs is in such hysterics.”

The head maid and her youngest ward relent, silently putting aside another spat for another day. The duo props Vinny up against the wall and slide Ichigo’s head onto the bear’s fluffy belly. Ichigo can’t help but feel comforted in the many pounds of cotton that make up Vinny’s insides, the migraines soon ceasing their barrages. She rolls her head back and forth, optimizing her comfort, trying to achieve the same feeling as she did laying in Savanna’s chest. Just as she finds something akin to it…

“The tea is ready,” Lin says softly, almost gently. It’s rare, almost a little disturbing to the young princess to hear who she always thought the coldest sound so motherly, even if it isn’t the first time she heard Lin’s calming assuages. “Milady Ichigo, do you require my assistance in imbibing it.”

Ichigo shakes her head. She believes she’s calmed down enough to enjoy a cup of tea, at least without ruining her clothes doing so.

“Milady, at least let me do this,” says Savanna, pulling out a handkerchief from her robes. She tucks it into Ichigo’s collar, giving her a makeshift bib. “There. Can’t have you messing up your dress right be--” Savanna catches herself. She swears under her breath as she watches Ichigo begins to tense up once more. “Lin, if you could. At least help with her first cup.”

“Yes, mistress.” Lin helps Ichigo sip the tea, holding it in between their furry hands, making sure not a drop spills on her lady. The tea is smooth and sweet, imbued with a taste that can only be described as the refreshing first breeze of spring in liquid form. Ichigo can feel it and the sugar underneath caressing her throat with every sip, right down to the last drop.

“Mmm...~” hums the princess, a smile finally cracking forward from her painted face after the harsh, long morning. “More, please…”

“I apologize, milady…” Lin sounds solemn, another uncommon emotion of her’s. “That was the last of Mona’s Garden we had in stock. I will do my best to acquire some more.”  
“Oh…”  
Mona’s Garden is Ichigo’s favorite tea, especially since she started practicing for her coming-of-age ceremony. She likes to joke about being addicted to its ability to calm her nerves and restore her throat after another long day of training…to herself, of course. Her own head is the only one that can bother laughing at her own quips and jabs at her own faults.

“What…?!” whispers Savanna, infuriated by the news but still doing her best to avoid agitating her lady any more. “I thought we just got some the other day…!”

“So did I, but the pantry says otherwise. It appears there was some kind of mix-up that left us with only Rockbird’s”  
“Rockbird…? Who in their right mind drinks that crap…?” Savanna looks towards Ichigo, who still appears a little jittery. Her toes prance along the floors, her tail thwips along the ground under her weight. “Fine, some Rockbird’s might do. Milady, would you like some more tea?”  
“…Yes…” Ichigo has missed breakfast, she’s ready for anything at this point. A growing girl like her needs her nutrients, and its unlady-like to turn down any kind of food, especially from her favorite people in all of Pent. Plus, its tea. Even bad tea is still good in her eyes, on her tongue, and down her gullet.

Lin prepares another cup and helps Ichigo pour it down her throat. Rockbird’s Mornings is a comparatively boring tea, liquefied dullness in the light of its sister Mona. It has a bitter aftertaste no amount of sugar can mask, yet it has just enough of a kick to energize its drinker for a long day. For Ichigo, it was fairly serviceable for her palette, yet not enough. She has Lin feed her another cup, and one more for good measure, until her hands and tail finally stops shaking and she can awaken once and for all from the long morning she spent getting dressed and ready. Just then, Daisy finally arrives, carrying a tray of biscuits and cookies.

“I – huff…huff – I am here... here, Milady…” pants Daisy, wiping the sweat from her brow with her cat tail. It drips off her whiskers and brings quite the shine to her chocolate face. Ichigo paws the air, wanting the tray to be laid beside her.

“What took you so long, Daisy…?!” Savanna fiercely whispers into her inferior’s rodent ears. Even for Daisy, it’s unlike her to be late like that, especially in regards to an Ichigo crisis.  
“I had... I had to rush all the way down to the bakery…” Daisy plants the tray by her lady and then lays besides her. “Gods, why do we have to live so high up…?”  
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Savanna takes a deep breath and shakes her head. Her maids always had their quirks and idiosyncrasies that learned to…tolerate. But she can't afford them to be even a minute late. Not on such an important day for their lady.

As Ichigo munches down on a cookie -– chocolate chip, her favorite -- she thinks about what Daisy said. Her villa is quite sequestered away from everyone other than her maids. The town down by the shore is only just a few shops and houses, filled with old men and women living away their retirement in pleasure. At least, that’s what she heard from her maids and their constant squabbling among the few residents. She wonders if any of them were aware of the princess that lived at the peak of the island. Perhaps some might have caught a glance of her whenever she had to close the drapes to keep the sun from her room. She ponders these thoughts as her handmaids squabble among themselves, enjoying her sweet breakfast, letting Lin prepare one more cup of Rockbird’s to go along with everything. With something in her belly, she believes she’s more prepared to face the challenge of having to go up and sing the Queen’s Oratorio, in front of all the people of Iozario. Or at least, when she fails, she at least had her last meal in her belly before her untimely and pathetic death by shame. Ichigo swallows, downing both fate and biscuit clumps. At least she succeeded in not making a mess of herself.

“Are you feeling better, Milady?” asks her head maid. "You need some more tea? Another biscuit? Do you need some more time?"

Ichigo sighs. She finally got cozy, it felt like the goosebumps were making their way off of her skin. But unfortunately, Iozaria needs their mutt princess today, and she can only delay the inevitable for so long. She shakes her head and holds her arms out to be picked up off the floor. Ready or not, here comes Ichigo.  
As Savanna helps Ichigo up, careful to not ruin her looks while she wipes the crumbs off her face, she says “I really do wish we can wait ‘til next year. Nine Hells, I honestly don’t see the point.”  
“Doesn’t she need to do it so she can be queen?” Alba asks.  
“Alba, Milady cannot become queen in the first place,” Lin retorts.  
“Oh, right.”  
“Ladies…” Ichigo mumbles. “Can you…not bring that up…?”  
The maids hush themselves up.  
“It’s…not about that anyway...I….I want to do it….”  
“But Milady--” Savanna holds her mistress by her shoulders, massaging them, easing both their nerves.  
“Please, Savanna. Mom…wouldn’t be happy if I don’t do this. I…wouldn’t be happy.”  
Savanna sighs. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Ichigo, under all her fears and shyness, has inherited her family’s determination…or their stubbornness.

“Mistress Savanna,” Umi places her bony hand on Savanna’s shoulder. “I know you care for the young lady, but she has her own family to get back to, make proud of. She is, after all, a princess. One of the children of the gods. Both of us know it is wrong for her to hide away from her people.”  
“I know. But...why now? Does it really have to be today?”  
“Today is tomorrow’s yesterday, Mistress.”  
Savanna rolls her eyes. Another proverb. If age comes wisdom, than Umi has enough to spare, human as she may be. Savanna bets it's another one of she stole right out her many bibles dedicated to her goddess, Little Libra. “Of course, Umi... Milady, do you have everything?”

Ichigo looks back and forth in her vanity room, making sure she has all her ceremonial garbs equipped. There would be nothing more embarrassing than going out there, walking the entire parade length and aisle without everything on he--  
“Bow...Bow!”  
Ichigo hobble-rushes towards the back of the room, opening up the right-most wardrobe. Scarves, caps, veils, handkerchiefs, fabrics of all kinds, of all styles are all neatly hanging up, ready for their owner to scramble throughout and ruin the maids’ organization. She tosses each one left and right, littering the floor in until she finds the ginormous pink strip of silk. Ichigo carefully brings it to her helpers, each one armed and ready to put the bow on their most precious of gifts.

Ichigo can definitely feel the love as all five of them _sqquueeeezzzeeee_ the bow around her tight. She heaves as she feels the air leave her lungs faster than she has ever ran in her life. She wish she could have kept some, as she finds it hard to breathe under all the garbs, the bow adding more challenge to such. It’s enough to almost make her regret filling up on baked goods and tea. Almost…

“Ready to go, Milady?” questions Savanna once more.  
Ichigo ponders the thought. She looks up to her most trusted handmaiden for a solid minute. Savanna has always been patient, always been understanding of her imbalances. Her long, blonde rabbit ears and hair, shining blue eyes, tanned skin has supported her from her birth. It’s hard to believe any pureblooded ny’oni like Savanna would stand to be in the presence of any mutt, even a princess, much less raise one from birth to coming-of-age. Queen Anzu certainly didn’t, casting her aside to be raised by a small platoon of handmaidens from her entourage as soon as she turned five. Her efforts were just better spent raising her other two daughters to the best of their abilities, and let her ladies handle the runt of the litter. The queendom can’t afford to put so much energy into raising a such a wayward child, anyway…

All this retrospection is starting to get to Ichigo. She tears up and begins feeling dizzy once more, falling forwards into Savanna’s arms, much to her shock.  
“Oh nonono…!”

Ichigo quickly shakes herself back to reality, back into the comforting arms of her most trustworthy helper.  
“I’m sorry… The bow’s...Too tight…”

Savanna understands and quickly snaps towards Alba and Umi to slightly loosen the bow from behind her lady. Ichigo takes the time to nuzzle into Savanna’s chest, waiting for her thumping heart to slow. Savanna’s heart isn’t like that, thinks Ichigo. Savanna is so strong, so calm, so nice. Moments like these are not uncommon for her, Savanna holding her steady in her comforting arms while she recovers. Sometimes Savanna carries her throughout the villa like this, until the both of them are absolutely sure that she’s is in no danger of meeting her face to the floor. Ichigo thinks back and realizes that only Savanna has done this. Being head maid has given her quite a number of privileges, its why she entrusted such a status to the person that has been with her since the beginning. It’s not to say she doesn’t appreciate her other handmaidens, each of them having their own way in supporting their princess. But none can rival the firm gentleness of Savanna, as if every part of her body was perfectly designed to give Ichigo the comfiest life possible. Every... soft... part...

“Uhm...Savanna…”  
“Yes, milady?”

  
Ichigo takes a moment to collect her thoughts. She wonders if it’s right to ask this today, if there is time. She hopes that if she does, it wouldn’t ruin the hours of effort all the maids spent on getting her ready for today. But...she feels like she wouldn’t be ready for today without it.  
Ichigo signals Savanna to come in closer. She raises Savanna’s floppy ear and whispers her most desired request sweetly into it. Savanna looks a little shocked and begins to blush a little, enough to make her tanned face look sunburnt. She raises her neck, collecting and feigning some of her usual amount of dignity, and says with a commanding aura “Ladies, we are going to need a moment here. Make sure everything is ready when me and our little lady heads on out, okay?”

The maids looks among themselves, even Lin looks the slightest bit confused. But they all soon quickly give a collective “Yes, mistress!”, each of them getting their last-minute preparations done. Savanna and Ichigo stay frozen in place until they are sure the four other ladies have cleared the room and given them their much-needed privacy. Savanna sighs, kneeling down to her lady.

“I wish we had more time for this. All of this, really. But I don’t think this should take too long…”

With that, Savanna slides away the top of her working robes down to her sides and unclips the front of her bra. Both of her mounds bounce and swing with a mighty heft, one Ichigo unconsciously follows. Savanna can’t help but thinks to herself back when to she was in training, back before any news of a third daughter came to light, when she was meant to another face in Little Lady Ringo’s guard. She was flat-chested, so leveled, she could be used as a ruler. Now here she is, needing to custom order a good number of undergarments, all because she never stop her earliest endeavor for her lady: being a wet nurse.

Even after all that tea, Ichigo can’t help but feel parched. Savanna’s milk always had a rich taste that is just unmatched. It’s honestly a little frustrating for her, to know that she can’t go a week without her matron’s mammaries. The young lady slowly walks up towards the head maid and licks her nipple, before latching on and siphoning down her meal. Each suck does assault her mind with a reminder at how immature she truly is, requiring her to think as herself a honeybee, getting her necessary nectar from her favorite flower. She needs this, some days she just needs the extra reassurance, the extra strength, the extra love down her tummy if she hopes to face the terrors of life. And today is a day where she needs all the strength she can get.

_Slick  
Slick  
Slick_

  
Savanna caresses the back of the little Sunada’s head, pressing her tighter against her breast. She must admit, she felt plugged-up all morning. But worst, she felt like her little lady is growing up far too soon, away from her arms that’s been holding her from the beginning. It’s why she never stopped milking herself, even when she needed to wean Ichigo off. It depressed her to know how someone she treasured for so long will lose that special connection, that bond that only they can share. Not even Queen Anzu knows what they share, much to Savanna’s own chargin. But she chose to miss out on this, just like how Princess Ichigo chose not to. The day Ichigo inadvertently began to suck on her nipples after a rough day of training, after teetering onto another episode of panic, was a day that has engraved itself onto her brain for the rest of her life. She gives of a warm, almost drooling smile, as her ward suckles and takes her nourishment.

  
 _Slick  
Slick  
Slick_  
  
The warm milk slides down down Ichigo’s throat with the grace of a dancer. It tickles her growing belly, a feeling that brings a smile to the princess. Ichigo has tried many brands, many forms of drinks, mostly teas. Many of them are required, given her position and duties, but a good number are dedicated solely to easing her wayward mind. But none has matched the magic of Savanna’s breasts. It’s not her fault she was born so dysfunctional, its not her fault can’t grow up like her siblings, so fast, so strong, so indomitable. She wants to join them, stand by them as an equal. To outgrow her needs, outgrow her supports. She fears being stuck as the runt, a burden on the Sunada name that should rot in obscurity. But on a day like this, when that fear is in danger of becoming a reality, she truly fears never getting a taste like this again.

 _Slick  
Slick  
Slick  
Slick  
Slick_  
  
Ichigo’s increasing pace snaps Savanna out of her fugue, if only for a brief moment. Everything moves so fast in this world, even with how long-lived the ny’oni all are. If she could, she would do this all day, every day, even today. But the both of them have lives to live and new experiences to tackle. Both of them hope that their little lady won’t be so little, and that, even if she will never be Queen of Iozario, Ichigo can bring her sweetness to the world just as much as she has brought to Ichigo. Savanna can’t help but to start tearing up, a few droplets fall onto her child’s head. None of them are enough to stop her from glutting herself on milk. Only a slight hiccup and a little belch even attempts to break Ichigo’s concentration.  
“Greedy…” whispers Savanna with a smile, tenderly rubbing Ichigo’s head, making sure that she has her fill, and then some.

 _Slick  
Slick  
Slick  
Slick  
Slick_  
  
With a few more tugs, a few more licks, a few more slurps, Ichigo taps out Savanna’s right breast. She starts to warm up her left, sloshing it tenderly against her fox ears so that she can hear her godly nectar press against her caretaker’s bosom, before reminding herself where and who she is. Her belly feels tight, the ribbon around her cutting into her once more. The sun has angled itself in such a way, it’s rays are darting straight into her eyes. Her makeup has marked Savanna’s breast a little, only enough that her mark has been made but not enough to make any of it run. ' _I need to_ _thank Alba',_ the young lady thinks to herself. The girl would make for a spectacular beautician. But first, she needs to give her gratitude to Savanna.

Savanna stays still, her arms wide-open. She gives a doughy smile, ready for her little girl to resume her feast. ' _She must have been waiting all morning for this'_ , her addled mind thinks. ' _Come, darling. Please don’t keep me wait_ _ing_ _, my precious Ichigo...'_ Only the sweet words of “Thank you, Lady Savanna,” thrusts her back from her daydream world and back into the cold reality of Pent.

Savanna stumbles her weighty-body up off the floor, feeling a little off-balance thanks the duo only being halfway done their " _bonding session"_. She doesn’t have the time to ponder how much time the two have spent in each others’ arms, only the time to remind herself that they don’t have time anymore. She wipes her eyes and straighten back up her bra and robes. In the meanwhile, Ichigo adjusts her own clothes, making sure her stuffed belly isn’t being tortured by her ribbon any longer. The two are no longer mother and child, but the head mistress and her princess. And after today, who knows what they will be in each other’s eyes.

And yet they beam a smile between the two of them. Nobody else will have what they have. It only starts to dawn on the princess just how special this little secret is between the two of them, but for Savanna, this is her waking reality. And its the one she chooses.

♥♥♥

With that, the six ladies from the villa on the tallest peak of the eastern block done something they haven’t done since they arrived all those years ago: descend together. The sun has peaked and is shining its fierce rays on them all, the ceremonial hat on top of Ichigo barely blocking any of them. Her sandals clip-clop against the stones on the pathway down, each step constantly reminding her of how forthcoming despair. Even with the tight grip of Daisy and Savanna by her sides, each of them providing the necessary balance and emotional support in order to walk the tight-rope of life without having the world give way from under her furry feet. She just can’t ease her mind. Many scenarios have already ran in her head countless of times, each of her finding some way to ruin the celebrations for everyone and let everyone know just how much a blight on this world the mutt of the east is. All before she even arrived to the docks that will take her to the mainland.

“Easy part over…,” Ichigo sighs to herself.

Only a few people glanced at the odd-looking girl, adorned head-to-toe in the Lady’s Ocean, the ceremonial garbs of an Iozarian crown royal who is ready to undertake the duties befitting a noble. It would take until the midday for the rest of the sleepy ny’oni residing in this island to wake up and be awestruck at just how close they were all living to a blueblood for so many years. It’s a small comfort for Ichigo, as she bets that by the time she returns, they all will be partying and shouting and praising her name, as if they always knew of her mundane existence. The thought sickens the girl as she arrives on the boat, forcing her to swallow a bit of bile with some difficulty. Spitting up right as she sings...she jots down another humiliating scenario into her brainspace as the women casts off into the late-morning horizon.

♥♥♥

…One more scenario starts to invade her mind as the mainland begins to come into view, a good hour into their trip. How much did Ichigo had to drink this morning? Ichigo begins to rub her chunky thighs together, each motion bringing about a level of nervousness that cancels out the momentary relief her bladder needs.

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/17/2020 -- Caught a bad typo that was a result of importing. Fixed!


	2. Seasick Ichigo Sunada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boat rides can be fun, as long as you aren't a girl with chronic anxiety and a filling bladder.

Ichigo has been tapping her foot for the past 15 minutes by now, as if it has been possessed by a demon demanding it to dance along the wood floors. The gentle rocking of the steel boat that has been transporting the crown princess of the eastern bloc has done little to keep her mind off her growing need. The milk & tea that have filled the princess’ stomach only a good few hours ago have began to flood her bladder at a rapid pace, sloshing against the walls of the organ, stacking on top of last night’s fluids. Given how early she had to start preparing for today’s festivities, she never had the chance to do her “morning routine”, outside of having Umi brush her fangs and Daisy scrub her down...

“Ohhh…,” whines the princess, unwittingly reminding herself of even more water... She breathes through her teeth, rocking and rubbing her lap back and forth, ever so slightly off-beat with the swaying of her royal cabin. Sitting still on her bed on her plushy rump isn’t doing her any good, believes the diminutive Sunada. She ever-so-carefully slides down, making sure to not agitate her bladder any more. If there is a bathroom on this ship, she better starts hunting on down before they get any closer to land.

Ichigo cracks open her cabin door and peeks out with her head. The ship has quite a good number of crew members, just about all of them being unknown to them. It was why her ladies made sure to rush her into her cabin as soon as possible, making sure that no one could make light conversation with their fraidy-cat of a mistress. She thinks about another nightmare scenario as she slips out quietly, grasping her privates with dainty fingers. If all those fluids she quaffed and swelled her belly wasn’t rushing southward, she fears having to be hospitable and gracious to so many people, all at once would only cause them to flow northward. She remembers how, when she was young and had to introduce herself to a small suitor, his shoes was left flooded with her brunch. It was one of the last things she did at the royal capital. In retrospect, it had to be the last straw for her mother’s goodwill, before she thrust her into the hands of her handlers and...well, exiled her to the eastern bloc. And now she is returning, even if its just on the shores of her home island. She is returning a grander, more mature woman.

A more mature woman, one whom tip-toes around on a ship, pressing down on her crotch, terrified of marking the floors with her juices.

♥♥♥

‘ _So far, so good_ ’, thinks Ichigo. Looks like everyone is holding down their jobs, like she is holding down her front. But if that’s the case, where are her ladies-in-waiting? She stumbled through a couple of hallways, hoping to find Savanna or Lin, maybe even Umi or Alba. But she has found nothing but several doors and some more chafe marks on her thighs. It doesn’t help that it appears none of the doors on this ship is marked. ‘ _How does anyone know where to go, much less me!’_ internally cries the antsy Sunada. As she takes several more tip-toes, she stops in place. She shudders just as another layer of liquids push her bladder closer to max capacity. Her lower belly starts to hurt, pressing onto the ribbon that surrounds her waistline. She shakes her head, needing to refocus her efforts if she hopes to not feel any worse. She takes a hand off her nethers so she can rub her temple, needing to take her mind off her predicament. The image of Lin begins to take shape, her sly prances and cool grace being the kind of skills needed to get her out of her troubles once and for all. With her guidelines set, she begins to peer into each room, hoping to find a bathroom among them.

_'...Empty cabin room.._

_...Empty cabin room..._

_...Empty cabin room..._

_...Filled kitch-- eep...!'_

Ichigo quickly covers her mouth as she sees the many cooks in action, all sanitizing the room with the utmost urgency. The disinfecting sprays, the clanging, wet dishes, the slopping of the mops. Each and every cleaner is busy eliminating every germ from existence. There’s so many people at it, so many in multiple levels of...dampness. The vivid memorization of Lin is quickly drowned under the squeaks, splishes, and drips of the kitchen cleaning staff. Ichigo’s eyes widen, her heart flutters, her breathing stops. Even behind this hardwood door, even with no eyes on her, she can’t help but be terrorized, paralyzed by the potential of being spotted by all these onlookers. Her bladder jitters along her, her hole begins to loosen open with her mental focus being so rattled.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s scrub these floors til you can eat off ‘em!”

The head chef roars. Every order he delivers is done with such a fierce reverence, were it not for the 2 inches of wood shielding her, it would shake Ichigo down to her core… and her piss tank. He holds his arms back, his gut forward as his lion tail slicks past against each of his employees. One of the ladies scrubbing the floors feel it rubs against her sizable rear, her cat tail and black spats doing nothing to block it. Her mousey ears shoot up as she feels it again, this time snapping upside her backside with enough force to cause it to jiggle like the jello currently in the refrigeration unit!

“Come on, lass! I want to hear those brush bristles, not your ass wiggle!” shouts the rude master of the kitchen. The muttly maiden gives off a spiteful glance towards her harasser, as she pops up her short statue in protest.

“Ohh! Need I remind you,” says Daisy in anger, prodding the lion ny’oni in his tubby chest, “that I am a _volunteer_! Hells, I’m part of the princess’ entourage, you can’t treat me like any two-bit house wench!”

“As long as you work for me, I can treat you however I feel like!” retorts back the chef.  
“Within regulation!”  
“Within regulation, sure, lass. MY regulations.”

Several of the other cooks chortle. The spat between the maid and the head chef is a rarity, a special occasion to liven up a special day. Some of the younger chefs give their pity to Daisy, one of them, a young lad, even bothers to reach up and place a hand on her shoulder. Daisy stares at the wide-eyed look, disarming a good amount of her fury in an instant. But what does clear up the rest is a jittering image of a person looking in out the corner of her eye.

“Ack! This isn’t worth it! I’m gonna get my things and carry my BEAUTIFUL ass out of here!!” Daisy shouts as she fixes her robes. She quickly saunters her way out, making sure everyone looking get a good look of her behind. Some of the more frisky men, even the women, even make a passing attempt at getting a touch, though the watchful eyes of the head chefs saves Daisy from a few unnecessary grabs.

“See, my boys! The work ethic of a mutt in action! That princess sure earned her company! Ahgahahahahahaha!” The head chef throws back his head in a mighty laugh as Daisy slams the door behind her, actually managing to smack her ass in the process. But she doesn’t mind that. What is important to her at the moment is calming down her lady, who is currently huddled in the fetal position in front of her.

“Lady Ichigo, what are you doing here?!” whispers Daisy, pulling her close and petting her slowly. Daisy can feel Ichigo’s tears on her shoulder. She’s glad that she managed to keep everyone’s eyes on her. The boys in there probably wouldn’t help themselves if they saw the princess out and about. The two can see it now, the likes of those kitchen serfs prostrating themselves in front of her, some of them risking losing a hand for a touch of royal tail. All of them being too rough, too forward, too scary for Ichigo. Any other day, it would a challenge, perhaps one worth taking to help her move past her fears. But with how she is now, Ichigo can’t afford to spend even a minute with these sailors.

“I…I…” stutters Ichigo.

“Ugh, if we knew you were going to wander about, we would have just stayed put in your cabin with you! Pfbbt. Guess I owe Lin my muffins… Fatty…”

“Uhm…Daisy…”

Daisy squeezes her closer into herself. “Yes, deary? Ohh, you must be so lost! Come on up, let’s see where your room is.”

Ichigo feels her belly smush straight into Daisy’s midsection as she picks Ichigo up on her feet. The ribbon around her begins to cut deeper into her own, the "water balloon" within her taking the brunt of the force.

“Daisy...Too tight, too tight! Can’t hold it, can’t hold it!”

Ichigo pushes off of Daisy and falls back on the floor. She immediately squeeze her crotch and take several deep breathes, shivering like a pup that fell and clamored out the ocean. She needs to recompose herself, believe in herself, believe she can hold it once more. Her bladder isn’t full quite yet, she’s just...shaken after everything. She’s not alone anymore, she has Daisy. She’s no Savanna or Lin, but Daisy is skilled. At least, unlike her, she can find a…

“Milady? Oh, you need a privy!” Daisy gasps. She feels a little dumbfounded, nearly causing her lady to have an accident. Her _one_ job is to keep her clean, not make her dirty!

Ichigo nods at a machine-gun rate. Her nethers are starting to hurt from both her holding and her holding waters, the ribbon she has coiled around her is doing no favors. She hobbles herself up on her feet, feeling all her milk, tea, and pee slush around her. She even feels some air beginning to build up in her, air that she hopes comes from dry-heaving and not from all of Savanna’s breastmilk beginning to digest. Her hopes are quickly dashed as several small breaks of wind slip past her control, each quick _fwipp_ jostling her "water balloon". At least it frees a little room out of her gut.

“Oh, you really gotta go, I guess…” Daisy says, fanning the air. Her little mistress doesn’t smell, but a little warning would have been nice. “Let’s see…I think the last privy was...errr…” Daisy ponders, tapping on her chubby, chocolate cheeks. She takes hold of Ichigo’s hand and begins to escort her around the cruise, trying to jumpstart her memory.

♥♥♥

“Shesheshe,” Daisy chuckles herself, sounding like Ichigo’s and her’s thighs scrapping against each other. “We should do this more often, if this is what it takes to get you to leave your room.”

Ichigo darts her own angry glance. Daisy always been callous and to-the-point. Even when she means well, she keeps having this grating air about her. Especially since she knows without a doubt this isn’t the first time she ended up having to leave her room on her own...

“Savanna...Savanna, please… I-I need you to move...Hnnngg…!”

It was a late night, several years ago, and all the maids had already retired for the evening. Savanna had given her an after-dinner feeding within Ichigo’s room and collapsed right on the spot, right on top of her.

“Savanna, please, move...I-I have to...I have to….awaahhh…!”  
“Ichi...don’t...zzz...don’t leave me...zzz”

It took a good deal of effort to break away from her tight grip that night, Savanna’s always been quite the cuddler (another charm point for her favorite maid). Ichigo kicked, Ichigo squirmed, Ichigo spunned all throughout the bunny woman’s arms. She couldn’t tell who was facing more punishment, Savanna or her tiny, squealing bladder! By the time Savanna’s sleeping embrace relented, she was fit to burst! She quickly slipped out her master bedroom and rushed for the hallway bathroom. She didn’t want to awaken Savanna any more than she had with her...noises.

The only other one left up at this hour was Daisy, who was scrambling to make her own trip to the privy. She had packed on a fair number of heavy dinners for the past few nights. _‘A booty on this beauty can’t be maintained with ones too light’_ , she thought.

_Grrrwwwoooaalll..._

And naturally, her booty was starting to make itself heard.

“O-oh, dammit! Guess tonight’s brisket was too rich…!” Daisy clutched herself and laid against a wall, waiting for the pain to stop. She slid down onto her butt, the rumbling in her colon making its headway. A noisy _blart_ quickly pops her back up, demanding her to steel herself if she hopes to make it to a bathroom in time. She would have used the maids’ bathroom, but it was quite a distance, nor she thought she could make it. Grabbing her gut, rubbing her rump, she dashed throughout the villa, trying to make it to any bathroom that will take her.

And you wouldn’t have to guess what happens when an unstoppable force meets an absolutely movable object going to the same point. Before Daisy had the time to recover and keep her own contents in than out, the distinctive sound of a slow trickle turning into a gushing flow pierced her mousey ears. Stunned, she is slow on the draw as the foul liquid begins to soak into her socks, forcing her to step back. But what really stung, more than her guts, more than her ears, was her heart hearing the hiccups, stirrings and mewlings of a little girl who she’d sworn to protect from such suffering...

“Oh, p-please stop crying, milady…!” Daisy snuggles the wet princess into packed middle, her cries muffled under a roll of flab and gaseous roaring. Daisy holds her lady in a bridal carry and starts up a bath, putting all her focus in cleaning her princess. Every step of the way, she clutches her stomach in agony; holding against the mop cleaning up Ichigo’s puddle, leaning it against the bathtub as the hot water purifies the littlest Sunada, and keeping it pressed into herself as she kneels on her stool, scrubbing down her everything until there is no trace of her accident. She tears up, her cat tail spent the entire 20 minutes raised stiff and sky high. She feels a mass starts piercing her way out of her end as she makes small talk with Ichigo. Despite her best efforts, a grand **_frrrwwwaarrrrppp_** interrupts both their thought processes for a solid moment, leaving Daisy in complete shame but incomplete relief.

“D-Daisy…? A-are you…” stutters Ichigo, watching her maid’s brownish face turn a shade of pink that almost matches Daisy’s sleepwear. She resists the urge to hold her nose, with much difficulty.  
“I-I’m fine, darling…! You’re m-more worse for wear than I am… Ugh…”  
“But what about – ack – w-what about you?” Ichigo’s eyes water, she holds her nose and starts to breathe through her mouth.

“It’s a maid’s job to do everything i-i-in her power to keep her lady happy and healthy. Augh… The others wouldn’t forgive me if they knew...they knew what I have done to you. I’m not the best...but this is just...irrepre—irrpre…” Daisy clutches her stomach as it roars once more, more grease from her brisket slips into her large intestine. She doesn’t know what’s fighting in there, but she knows that it all wants to come out.

“Daisy? I-if you have to go...I won’t be mad. I’m not mad at you at all.”

“Well I’m mad at myself, Ichigo…” Both her conscience and her colon are in agreement, albeit for very different reasons. “Now why don’t we get behind those ears? A-actually, you might want to...wait a little…” Daisy’s voice becomes hoarse as she leans over once more. A gas leak quickly turns into another explosion of stink. Daisy isn’t religious, but she’s praising the gods that it all was dry...for now.

Ichigo sticks below the water until she knows the bathroom has aired out. Daisy fans out the room, feeling each wave vibrate her gut ever the bit more. She presses her behind against the wall for a few seconds before returning to Ichigo’s side, just to make sure everything really is dry.

By the time she’s wrapped up in towels, Ichigo is beaming with a healthy glow while Daisy looks like she spent six rounds in a martial arts tournament, her innards being the only victim of each.

“We-we…we are done,” pants Daisy. “P-please keep this among our-our-ourselves.” As she says this, she feels her stomach _grrroooaaannnn_ in rage. The mass within her is pushing straight down on her asshole, kissing her panties. She can’t hold anything back any longer.

“Okay. Thank you, Dai--” Ichigo doesn’t get the chance to finish. Daisy pushes the girl out and hurries, crawling like an animal to the only thing resembling a throne a wench like her would ever approach…

...It took until the late morning before any else caught on to what happen, if only because Ichigo wanted Daisy to assist Savanna in bathing her for now on...and Daisy’s pajamas was hung up to dry, several brownish stains of shame still engraved on the lower quarters. She spent the day only giving everyone her grating chuckle, pretending that nothing happen. Her “sheshesheshe” kept anyone from prying too deep at her new “promotion”. Even Ichigo had to nudge her to relax and stop her ceaseless chuckling.

♥♥♥

“Ahah! There we are!”

Daisy proclaims with great pride, finding the signature crescent moon of the ladies’ room. She beams a smug grin towards Ichigo, too preoccupied reminiscing and massaging her lower stomach. The duo managed to stealth past the many staff of the ship and found a privy with a level of privacy fit for her royal shyness. Once Ichigo realizes this, she smiles back. Daisy may not be the most diligent or thoughtful, but she is reliable in her own way.

“I...I...thank you…!” cries Ichigo. “I would hug you, b-but… you know.”

“Say no more! I’ll just hold on that ‘I Hug U’ until my earliest opportunity,” says Daisy. She winks towards Ichigo as they enter the bathroom together.

The floors are wet, recently mopped with the utmost impunity. Everything have a strong shine, the glares reflecting off Ichigo’s glasses and blinding Daisy a little. The room is so air-tight, even their breathes echo about the room. It’s a ladies’ room, all right, complete with three stalls, all of them unoccupied and ripe for the taking.

Ichigo approaches the door, still in bliss...right up until she touches it. She pauses, coming to a dead stop. It takes but a second for Daisy to realize something is wrong.

“Milady? Are you alright? Oh no, you haven’t--”  
“No...I can’t….”  
“Ichigo, we are right here! You can’t, they already clean--”  
“No, I mean...I can’t take off my robes…

The thought took a while to breach Daisy’s skull, but for Ichigo, it only took the instant. Perhaps she always knew deep down, and only the challenge of finding the bathroom could repress such a thought. If she disrobed, every garment she spent the past several hours getting equipped, every piece of fabric her maids worked themselves to the bone getting on her for her big day, she knows she wouldn’t have the time to properly fix back everything by the time they landed.

“LANNNND-HO!”

And speak of the demons. The truth has come to light to Daisy, who begins to break out in a sweat. There...there has to be _something_ they can do, she can’t go out there, with all those eyes on her, looking like she could _explode!!_

“Ohhhh, Lady I-Ichigo!” stutters Daisy. “Y-you can’t just…maybe you can just wing it! Hike up your robes, discard the pants, do your business and wallop! It’s embarrassing, but sometimes a lady just has to go commando for a day! My tail can honestly use the fresh air, shesheshe…!!”

Daisy is at a lost for words. She knows she can’t have Ichigo do such scandalous acts. It’s imperative that every article of ceremonial garb is present and accounted for. Not to mention how much of a disaster that could result if anyone finds out her most trusted handmaidens have their young princess strutting about with no pants. She begins to have the same amount of disrespect her boss has for this ceremony. Why in all the Gods’ names did anyone thought having to wear this much, right at the start of spring, would be good for anyone!?

“Thank you for everything, Daisy.” solemnly says Ichigo, letting go of the stall handle. “I just have to hold it until everything is over. I...I am a big girl, a lady now, right? Ladies can suck up and handle anything. They can hold the biggest of meals on the tiniest of platters with perfect balance and harmony. Isn’t that what all of you say? What have you been telling me all year?”

“Ohhh, Lady Ichigooooo! To the Hells what Savanna says, I think you are ready! You are going to go out there and be a star! Everyone will know your name, for the good of us mutts everywhere!”

“For the good of us mutts…That’s...a lot of pressure.” Ichigo’s bout of determination takes a good blow, but it still stands tall. “I...I don’t know about that, but I think it would be good for this mutt.” She sounds less solemn, but the thought of being a mutt princess begins to weigh on her, as much as her bladder. It was a struggle to accept herself, how could anybody else in the Queendom would accept her? Her mother certainly didn’t…

Ichigo dwells on this thought as she goes to wash her hands in the sink. The water turns on...and is quickly shut off, the counterproductive mistake snaps her out of her depression and back into her urgent reality. She didn’t even use it, why did she even do that! She quickly press back down on her “dam”, the small amount of condensation on her hands causing a few “hairline cracks” to start forming. Ichigo huffs and makes her way out the bathroom, Daisy in tow.

...Right into the slim body of--

“LIN!?” shouts Daisy, as she feels the pureblooded wolf ny’oni grabs Ichigo by the wrist.

“Milady located and acquired.” Lin says with a stern demeanor, holding onto her wolf ears. “Commence teleportation.”

♥♥♥

Up on the deck of the ship, Savanna and the rest of the maids are lying in wait, watching Umi hold her position, her wrists and forehead ablaze with mystical forces as they spiral around her.

“She’s got her!” shouts Umi, Lin’s voice reverberates in her head. The other maids, especially Savanna, cheered with a jubilant “Yipee!”, makes to the shock and awe of the ship captain looking from below her quarters. She sees the old woman rotates her head, the mystical spiral surrounding it disappears. She watches as Umi rolls back her head, hears an odd chant, and then clasp her hands together, disappearing from her eyes. The captain lets go of the wheel (thankfully, they were docked at the time) and rushes towards the window, wondering where the old hag went, right before she sees her return in the blink of an eye with two ny’oni girls, one dressed head-to-toe in purple, the other in black. It was awe-inspiring.

Ichigo is stunned, suddenly finding herself up a floor before she even knew what happen. She finds herself being pulled down by Lin, who joins Umi in kneeling. She doesn’t even have the time to dwell on that before Savanna picks her up and hold her into a bear hug.

“My Goddess Libra, Milady…!” pants Umi, exhausted from her magical excursion. “Where did you go? I don’t like using that spell, and you make me do it four times in one day! These old bones can’t handle that, you of all people should know that!” Umi has Lin help her up, stretching her back until she can her spine pop. She proceeds to wipe her nose of a bit of blood and tune her throat, making sure she did no damage to it with her rampant casting.

“Right, my dear Ichigo!” chastises Savanna. “Where did you wander off?! Why, you never wander off! Never in my life have I seen you do that! I know its your coming-of-age, but that doesn’t mean you have to start going off on your own so soon!” Savanna’s motherly snuggling does little for Ichigo’s predicament. Each cuddle and kiss Savanna gives only rustles her "water balloon" more. The “cracks” in her “dam” grow with the passing minute.

“W-wait!” shouts Ichigo. She’s only starting to recover, as she struggle to get her arms free and back down to their battle stations. She squirms, the bunny ny’oni refusing to budge.

“B-boss, you going to ruin her costume at that rate!” panics Alba. Savanna has no choice but to drop her. She’s probably doing her more harm than good with her love, it can wait ‘til tonight. The moment Ichigo hits the floor of the deck, she squeezes herself tight. Her “dam” is in need of repairs, she can already feel a few droplets coasting in her underwear.

“W-what’s happening? --huff huff-- Where am…” says Ichigo, catching her breath. She wants to cradle herself, but she knows it won’t be much good, plus she’s right out in the open. Instead, she picks herself up, letting Alba dust her off.

“Please forgive the rude teleportation,” Lin says, her usual calm demeanor unabated. “Umi could not find you in your room. It was my idea to locate you and have you here on the double. The ceremony is about to begin.”

This gives Ichigo further shock. She prances towards the railing of the boat, holding herself in the meantime. To her horror, she sees a crowd a mile long and a thousand dense. Only one of these can describe the current state of her bladder...

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/17/2020 -- Fixed a few typos.


	3. Ichigo Sunada Drops the Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the ceremony. A perfect time for letting loose... or bottling up everything inside...  
> And it's honestly hard for Ichigo and her entourage to decide which is better...

The roaring crowd, adorned in purple, brought nothing but fear into the littlest Sunada. Even without her bladder nearly max capacity, this would certainly cause her anxiety to spike. Her vision once again begins to blur, forcing her to let go of the bar and return into the open arms of Savanna.

“Milady! Breathe, breathe!” demands Savanna. She presses down her chest onto the back of Ichigo’s head, letting her feel her heartbeat. Ichigo does what she is told, taking deep breaths to tune of her head maid’s pulse. But what really brought the world back under Ichigo’s feet was the pulsing of her “water tank”, hurting her privates and her pride.

Ichigo kneels down in pain. Savanna looks shocked, once again wrapping her ears around her ward.

“Milady, are you wi--”

“Bathroom! Bathroom!”

The shouting caught the rest of Ichigo’s entourage off-guard. They quickly surround her, making sure they caught her right. Ichigo bunkers down, letting the impromptu circle of four give her the privacy needed to recollect herself. It’s becoming harder to recompose herself, the waves of desperation are becoming stronger and more frequent.

“Wait, that’s where you were coming out of? A bathroom?” questions Lin. For once, she looks honestly befuddled.

“How did you NOT know where you grabbed her?” retorts Alba, helping Ichigo grab herself. It’s only a modicum of help, but every bit helps.

“I hunt with my eyes close. My nose is stronger than them anyway.”

Alba was unable to vocalize anything, but the look of abject disgust and confusion told Lin every thought that was running through her head. Lin may tower over the munchkin, but the look did a good amount of damage to the girl’s .

“If you were coming out of the bathroom,” asks Umi, managing to find her voice once more, “than why do you look like you still have to go? I know in my life, I am still learning more about the ny’oni, but I’m quite sure you all do not have two bladders.”

“I-I couldn’t go…” Ichigo says. She sniffs, the waves of pain finally starting to recede for now. “I can’t take off my clothes…”

“That’s easy!” Alba says, grabbing Ichigo’s dress robes by the fluffy skirt in her left hand, and flicking her right wrist. A _ka-click_ is heard over the ocean waves, a switchblade appearing in the miniature ny’oni’s hand.

“STOP!” shouts Savanna! She disarms Alba in a flash, the switchblade now in her hands. “A) Do you not know where we are?! And B) why do you have that?!”

“A) ...Y-yeah, not my brightest moment, sorry, Boss. And B) that’s between me, Milady Ichigo, and Vinny.”

Savanna’s fury is apparent, causing Alba’s cat ears and lion tail to recede. “After today, you are going to give me all your-your...tools of destruction!”

“Only the princess and I can touch Vinny!” Alba guards the over-sized bear strapped to her back. Now Lin has her own moment of abject disgust and confusion, not that Alba notices or could tell with Lin’s mask 50% of her face.

“Can we—Can we have this discussion later…?” whines Ichigo. She hobbles up on her feet, still shivering. Another wave, thankfully much smaller, is currently making its way through her pudgy body. Ichigo’s plump breasts and misshapen belly jitters, her furry legs wobbles weakly. She starts to prance on the spot, making sure she keeps herself active, in fear of collapsing once more and being unable to get up.

“She looks like she’s going to blow any minute,” Alba says, worried.

“She must have wandered about all this time, alone!” figures Savanna. “We should have stayed with her!” She tugs on her ears, frustrated with all her maids and herself.

“Lass, please, you know we had to get ready ourselves.” Umi says, attempting to ease Savanna. “I had to prep my voice, Lin had guard practice, you had to get dressed to escort, Alba and Daisy were meant to help with the ship’s staff, else there was no way we could get them to leave the princess alone.

“I know, I know, but we could have checked every ten, no, five min—Wait, where is Daisy?!”

“She’s with--” Ichigo looks around, realizing that Daisy is nowhere to be seen in the immediately area. “She _was_ with me… A-tatata!!” One more wave, stronger than the last one, weaker than the first, makes its way through her. She dances about on her tip-toes in this brief bout, her potty dance is starting to wrinkle her dress.

“You look for Daisy on your lonesome?!”

Ichigo nods, starting to slow down her prancing as she resumes shivering.

“She must have taken you all over this da--darned place. That girl couldn’t find her tail if it wasn’t attached to h--

“Don’t speak like that!” The outburst immediately muted Savanna, causing her to simmer down. Daisy’s encouragement began to replay in Ichigo’s mind, giving her some much needed strength. “She did fine, she even s-saved me… I shouldn’t need to be escorted anyway. It’s my fault, anyway. I shouldn’t have left the cabin alone, I shouldn’t have so much to drink.”

Lin chimed in with “You did have a lot of Rockbird’s today. I should have stopped you, but Rockbird’s a pretty weak tea to begin with. Please forgive me, my lady.”

“No, forgive me,” Umi butts in with dreary words. “I was the one to rush you out of bed this morning. I completely forgot about your routine. Old age has been wrecking this geezer pretty hard. It’s only the goodness of my goddess Libra that I can be with you to this very day.”

Savanna begins to lean on her side. She tried to ignore her weight discrepancy all day, but in the light of this pity party, she can’t ignore her part in Ichigo’s emergency. Even if she was in dire need of a feeding, she shouldn’t have gotten so lost in her fantasies to be unable to monitor her lady’s diet. She owes her ladies, big time. But right now, she can’t afford to let them know of her own part, nor for Ichigo to ruin her big day.

“Let’s all join Ichigo in taking a deep breath.” Savanna guides her fellow maids in calming their nerves and getting them out of their collective downer. “Umi, do you have any spells that can let Ichigo...you know?”

“If you are asking me if can transport pee from inside a woman to somewhere else…” Umi says, pausing for a brief moment. It brings a little hope to Ichi-- “No. I have no spell that precise. And if it did exist, I’m pretty sure the mist sickness would have Ichigo down one maid.” Umi does a quick snort, catching the blood that resumed running down her nose.

The old maid was the best spellcaster Ichigo known, ever since she was young, but doing her trade for so long was bound to leave her in such a paltry shape. Ichigo knows about as much about humans as Umi does ny’oni, but even she knows she isn’t long for this world. No human is, its why the ny’oni outnumber them 8:1, and that’s with reservations and breeding programs. At least that’s what she’s been sneaking a peek in the news. And she certainly doesn’t want to lose her just so she can relieve herself. That would honestly be more embarrassing, more heartbreaking than having an accident right at center stage, in front of her mom.

“Why not...something that can make her hold it better?” asks Savanna, wracking her brain.

“Tch, maybe. My goddess and I might have something for that, but I don’t know how effective or how long I can hold it.”

“Than what are you waiting for?! We don’t have time for unknowns, and we need everything we got, the people are waiting for us right at this second!”

“Easy, woman. We hear you, and my goddess and I rather not have anyone else.” Umi spirals her bony finger in the air. It helps remind Savanna exactly where she is.

“I-I’m sorry. I just…”

“I know, I do not like seeing the princess like this either. The child has enough problems already. But enough talk, now is the time for song.”

Umi begins to chant, deep in her throat. The mist in the air begins to spiral around her body, once again giving off that soft illumination that starts within her mouth. Her fair skin glows with a tint of baby blue as a circle of raw mystical energy begins to form on her throat. Her cheeks, weathered with age and liverspots, swell, dampening the sound of her chanting.

“My goddess, I beg thee. Grant thy child with the power of **Ease**...”

Ease, a minor medical miracle. Ichigo knows enough to know its meant to help with small cuts, bruises, and inflammation. Umi has taught her that much whenever she ended up getting one of the three, or all three at once. Wooden floors and furry feet tend to not be best combination, especially with how often they get swept and scrubbed. But now she questions how does it solve her bathroom emergency?

“I desire **length** , the longer, the better. I shall hum for you, goddess, ‘til I can longer.”

Ichigo thinks it over some more, bladder permitting. Whenever she seen other spellcasters, they don’t do full chants or seances like Umi does. Sometimes even Umi doesn’t do the whole spiel, like with this morning. She starts to piece together that sometimes a good magician like Umi can control the mist without exerting all that effort. But does that mean Umi isn’t a good magician? Or is she a magician at all? She has a good number of questions, but first she wants to empty her bladder before she really gets into it.

“Thank thee, my goddess.” Umi clasps her hands together, completing the rite. Her throat has to be filled with the mist, its coming out of all her orifices on her face. Before Ichigo can worry, she feels a blast of soothing air , much stronger than the one soothing light of this morning. Umi is exhaling all the mist onto her, aiming down towards lower half. She feels a good amount of relief, like her “dam” is repairing its cracks, like her “water balloon” is growing bigger. But that can’t be right?

Umi closes her mouth in an instant, before Ichigo feels all the way relieved. Umi begins to breathe through her teeth, her chest almost inflating up and down. Ichigo can see the constant flow of mist move in-and-out of her mouth. She wonders if Umi feels as...weird as she does. She feels full, almost waterlogged, but it doesn’t hurt. She feels like she has a tight grip on herself, but both her hands are free and she’s not exerting any extra effort “down there”. She does feel a little sick, but it might just be the thought of having to walk by so many, many people than anything Umi did.

“Th-thank you, Umi,” Ichigo says, though a little slurred.

“Tch.” Umi’s tic cause her to blast some mist out her mouth before its sucked back in. “Don’t thank me yet. I was hoping to prepare an inverse deafen circle, make sure those harpies don’t bother ya. So this is a little off-the-cuff.” Umi breathes some more mist out of her crinkled nose. “I’ve said I don’t know how long I can hold this, I already want to throw up! So go out there and knock ‘em dead, lass!”

“Dead. Right. I can do this.” Ichigo feels a strange mix between anxious and calm.

♥♥♥

With the assistance of Savanna, Ichigo walks down the plank of the boat and into the crowd. The people of the Iozarian Peninsula are intrigued by the mysterious princess of the east, said to have been exiled there for being a bastard. They can’t help but to bombard the girl with questions, leering eyes, praise, confusion, vitriol, excitement. Hype.

“Is that the princess?!”

“She’s way smaller than I expected!”

“She’s so pretty, daddy!”

“The girl’s looking high as a kite!”

“I hope to look that regal one day!”

“Oh man, it’s true! She really is a mutt! I see the fox ears! What's under the rings, what's the tail?!”

“This is boring, I wanna go home!”

Ichigo sees why Umi had to “prepare her voice” earlier, why she wanted that “inverse deafen circle”. Being harassed by so many people, even with the support of Savanna by her side, the other maids in the back, and Umi’s Ease, it’s all still making her feel ill. Without Umi’s magic, she would have probably be leaving a trail of urine from the boat and onto the streets!

...Okay, she’s not doing that now. She hopes that the people don’t question her suddenly looking behind herself. To her immediately right, she has Savanna walking with her, dressed in much fancier robes than normal. Ichigo believes its called a kimono. They are a regal purple, the golden fox, her family’s crest, is displayed prominently all over it. Whoever made it was kind enough to make a slit prominent enough for her to have her humongous cotton bunny tail to be displayed for all to see. Her breasts look like they are free to spill out, though, guess that they couldn’t quite get her size done. It probably also have to do with only having one tit full of milk, now that she thinks about it. She’s been leaning on her awkwardly, despite her best efforts, and now Ichigo hopes this doesn’t cause too much of a spectacle.

Behind her, the maids are still following her. Daisy is still absent, so it looks like Alba is carrying two baskets of flowers, periwinkles, to sprinkle along her trail. Ichigo can’t help but think that if she was leaking, Alba would cover her trail with them. It would be a great use for them. Alba isn’t nearly as well looking as Savanna, only wearing a small purple sundress, something a child would wear on these occasions. She’s always look like a youngster, being one of the few beings Ichigo knows that are actually shorter than her. Her pale skin, dark-grey hair, and eyes that never look they slept a day in their lives give her an uncanny, ghoulish look on a daily basis. One that is in odds to her sprightly, hyper, and cheery nature. Ichigo knows she can be exhausting to those that get on her – and sometimes her stuffed animals – nerves, she’s probably the most akin to a firebrand in her entourage. Sometimes even gets to her, nearly causing her some rather unneeded distress. But Ichigo knows its all to be the first to her defense, regardless of how much it goes against Alba’s own desires or well-being, leaving her appearing as childish as her body would suggest.

Lin isn’t anywhere to be seen, though even Ichigo didn’t expect that. Lin’s someone that she doesn’t get to see all too often on occasions like these, a bodyguard maid like her isn’t meant to. She’s cooks and cleans like the rest of them, but whenever she feels like there’s danger, Lin is smoking it out. Still, she hoped to see her, reassure her for today.

Umi darts in the corner of Ichigo’s eyes. Instead of following the parade route, it looks like she’s following Ichigo’s party with the crowd. She’s slow, given her statue. Her greying, auburn hair is hard to spot in the mass of shapes and overpowering purple. She hopes that nothing bothers the woman as she is focusing on keeping her steady.

Umi breathes in and out, the mist flowing all throughout. She has one hand hiding the signature of mysticism that is spiraling around her throat, the other pushing the few ny’oni callous enough to not give an old lady her right-of-way. She tussles her past the crowd, hoping to keep pace with Ichigo. But suddenly, a misplaced step feels awkward, a _squeak_ is heard, and Umi tumbles forward!

“Oof!”Umi hits the dirt road, losing her focus for just a moment!

“Mommy, the lady stepped on my dolly!!” A young ny’oni girl, what appears to be a mouse, begins to cry. Umi wants to apologize, be helped up by the surrounding crowd, but more importantly, she wants to catch her breathe and reestablish her control over the mist. Cause Ichigo suddenly feels a flash of heat right down her nethers!

Ichigo feels the pressure return hard and fast. She looses pace with Savanna, pausing momentarily as the pain wells up inside of her. A monstrous wave pulses through her body, one she can do nothing about. She can’t hold herself, break into a dance, or do anything that would arouse the suspicion of so many people around her. Ichigo can’t even hyperventilate, or breathe at all! Her bladder swells as more liquid makes her way to her breaching water balloon, her cracking dam! She feels the pores in it become holes, the cracks become fractures. She’s going to lose it, before she even got to the center stage! _‘UMI! WHERE ARE YOU!?_ ’ thinks Ichigo!

What Ichigo is unaware of is the time she spent stopped, the time Umi spent spilled across the dirt. Umi immediately takes a deep breathe, letting the mist reestablish the links between her breathing and Ichigo’s body. She scrambles as best she could onto her feet, hoping she didn’t bruise anything, that Ichigo didn’t spill over in the two seconds she layed flat on the ground. Most of the crowd on the northwestern quadrant was busy noticing the old woman that took a tumble, worried that she might not be able to get back up. Umi looks past the crowd staring at her, seeing Ichigo…

...has caught back up with Savanna. She’s walking in step once more, her sandals keeping up with Savanna’s. She has an air of grace and elegance that is rare to see within her lady. Umi would smile, but she fears any lost of breathing at this point would ruin such a perfect image of Ichigo. Her throat feels hoarse, she’s stifling any coughing her lungs is forcing her to make. She makes her way to the front of the crowd.

♥♥♥

“Did she trip? I think she tripped!”

“Does it look like I should know?”

“Well if she did, that’s two points off her report card. You are keeping track, right, sis?”

Meanwhile, at the center stage, two girls sit on a love-seat built for three. It’s golden trim and velvet fur finish clashes with the girls’ outfits. The girls, both fox ny’oni, wave their tails in anticipation and celebration, respectively, for Ichigo’s arrival. The girl on Ichigo’s left is dressed in a dignified manner, a purple-and-white dress matching Ichigo’s, but far more extravagant. Crinolines, a tiara, even a fan to complete the royal looking set. The girl next to her is dressed far more provocatively, wearing a white sweater under her purple robles that do nothing to hide her protruding chest, large enough that people can spot it at a distance. At a glance, it doesn’t even look like she’s wearing any form of lower-wear, being content with white cotton stockings only. She’s perched on her heels in the chair, waiting eagerly for Ichigo to arrive with her. The other keeps her eyes, painted in the markings of her ancestors, shut, a look that betrays her tail’s vivid shaking behind her.

♥♥♥

Ichigo is almost there with these women, about to breach past the many onlookers and officials that have surrounded the stage show. Ichigo tugs down on Savanna’s ear as they start to move past the many cloaked officials.

“S-Savanna…” whispers Ichigo, directly into it.

“I know you are scared, honey. Just keep walking.”

Ichigo looks up on the stage. She sees the two foxy onlookers resting the chair she is meant to join them in, despite only having the vaguest of ideas of who they are. She sees an official, holding a large glass orb, gleaming with mystical energy. She sees the grand stage, white and pearly with purple drapes, where she is meant to perform the Queen’s Oratorio. It would be breathtaking, were it not for Ichigo’s mind to be preoccupied with two issues.

“S-Savanna…”

“We are almost there, milady. We can d--”

“I’m...uh...It feels...warm down there…”

No amount of magical numbing could ignore the fact that Ichigo feels...wet. Her undies feel warm, hot even. She feels like they are starting to stick to her bottom as she walks towards the stage. She worries how much, that brief lapse of her and Umi’s control, she let go, if anybody had noticed, if she left a puddle. Her nethers don’t feel...quite right, either, despite letting go. She still feels full, so she knows she has to go, but now she’s starting to feel like “down there” is as sick as she feel “up there”.

♥♥♥

“Aww, look, sis! She’s holding her servant’s ear like a teddy bear!”

“Again, Ringo. I cannot look.”

“Ohh, does she know what’s she doing?! Is it some nervous tic of hers! Is she scar—oh, she must be terrified! How adorab—still taking points off.”

“You say that as if you weren’t scared on your coming-of-age.”

“I remember being pretty excited, Momo!”

“Yes, for mines. For yours, you botched several high-notes and you forgot your own name.”

“Huh, don’t remember. Gonna blame the yetis on that!”

“Is there anything you don’t blame the yetis on?”

“Getting thirsty?” The foxgirl named Ringo takes a swig out of a flask she has stored around her neck, between her bosom.

“Really? Here?”

“Hey, it IS a party!”

“One that does not need your… disgraceful fluids anywhere near another’s coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Me and my ‘fluids’; aren’t harming anyone, you worry too much, sis!”

“I don’t worry ‘too much’, I’m not worrying at all!”

“Aww, you getting flustered! Well don’t you ‘not-worry’ your fluffy butt, I’m protected! Not gonna be like those other times at all!”

“What’s that supposed to-- I’m not worrie—watch the show, sober you ignorammus, you supposed to be keeping track! _Harumph!_ ”

“Right, right, she’s still trucking a C-!” The excited lady takes another swig from her flask. She does a little flourish as she removes the golden container from her lips, shifting in her seat so she can hear the slight _c_ _rinkle_ that emits from her posterior. “Yeah… Protected…” She smiles, her face becoming flushed and rosy.

♥♥♥

Savanna looks back for a brief moment, before the crowd surrounds her view of Alba. She whisper back to Ichigo “I don’t think anybody can see, we’ll get you changed after everything is done.”

Savanna takes Ichigo’s hand and struts towards the stairs of the stage, past the orchestra that started to increase in volume and tempo as she approaches. Well, she has one burden off her mind, but it only makes the other more pressing. She has her maids, she has her crowd, she has the officials. The only thing missing, the only thing she doesn’t have on her big day, however…

“S-Savanna...Where is she?”

She has no mom.

_'That woman... Unbelievable!'_ thinks Savanna furiously...

Ichigo has to go about it alone as she clambers up the stage. Despite the several warm spots that are pooling along in her panties, Ichigo is more concerned with the doubt pooling in her mind. It isn’t like her mother to be late. She expected to be there, sitting on the loveseat with the other girls, judging her every move to the most minute detail. Sure, it’s certainly less stressful to not see her, but more...disheartening to not even know where she went. The crowd celebrates seeing their princess make it up there with no incident, even making an uproar as Ichigo curtsies for them. She makes a strut, partway cool, partway to keep her panties off her skin, to her seat, sitting in between of the foxgirls.

A mutt among princesses.

“Oh my god, sis, she’s here! She’s made it! It’s the little sis! Alive and well! Even managed to keep a C-!” shouts the excited one.

“I can’t see, not that I can’t feel when the seat starts to move.” retorts the mildly-peeved one.

“Uhm...hi…” squeaks out the puniest, timid one.

The orator begins his spiel about what a grand day, the day the crown princess of the eastern bloc assumes her true duties as a Sunada. Even to Ichigo, its all bunk. She’s there not to assume some duty, her mother has everything covered. And those that don’t, she has the two princesses of the western bloc, the people everybody loves, to cover her duties. The eastern bloc of Iozaria doesn’t even have troubles to deal with, especially not in comparison to the frigid western one. This is a show, a mockery of her position at this point. Everyone isn’t here for her, they are here to get drunk, party, and tolerate her for one day out of her whole existence. It would be fine, the feeling is...quite mutual, to be honest.

But the one person she wanted to tolerate her the most isn’t here.

As the orator blathers one, Ichigo lowers her head into her heart. Some prodding by the happy-go-lucky girl to her left breaks her out of her funk. Each touch feels...off, not quite right, but it’s good reassurance that Umi’s magic is still active, even all the way up here. But she wonders if her magic is also starting to get to her mind… Of course, might as well introduce herself, if she hopes to have her space no longer invaded.

Ichigo tilts her head, struggling to make eye contact with the blushing lady.

“Eeeee, I have heard so much about you!” whispers the smiling foxgirl, the one who has heard so many rumors about Ichigo. “My name is Ringo, little miss downer over their is--”

“Momo, and I am NOT a downer” retorts the smaller girl. She obviously rue the remark, as much as Ichigo is starting to rue today.

“H-hello…” Ichigo works up either the courage or the willpower to give the ladies a terse introduction. “M-my name is...my name is Ichigo…”

“Aww, what’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be happy? It’s your day! You are becoming a lady! Like us! Or do I have to sit with two Little Miss Downers?”

“Again, NOT a downer!”

“Well anytime we have a party, you are the one that holes herself in her room all night.”

“Because YOUR parties are just rowdy, dedicated solely to inflate your gut with ale. You know I prefer something…” Momo waves her hand around, perhaps a little unconsciously, “grander. More elegant. More befitting the eldest child of Lady Anzu. Or...any child of the Queen not named Ringo.”

“Pfft,” spits Ringo. “I’ve seen you drunk, you are certainly not befit to be anyone’s child like that!”

“One time. And I was certainly more refined than you were… Mutt, you there?.”

The girl that refuses to open her eyes appears to be addressing Ichigo, turning towards her. She doesn’t respect that callsign with a response, only putting her head into her hands. She’s starting to feel numb all over.

“Hey, I am no mu—Oh, oh! Oh, my gods!” Ringo appears stunned, quickly becoming exuberant. “You mean little sis! Right? Right?! Is it true!? Does mother really does have a dark side?” She invades Ichigo’s personal space, her tail wagging excitedly.

Ichigo waits a little, before rustling behind herself and pulling out her tail for Ringo to see and feel.

“Oooh! It’s wolven!” Ringo feels Ichigo’s tail up and down, even giving it a good pull or two, causing Ichigo to shift closer to her. Outside of her bodily fluids flushing against her numbed pelvis, Ichigo doesn’t respond. “Mama Anzu really did have a tryst! I’m surprised she even acknowledge y--”

“Can you… please not…” Ichigo begins to tear up. The constant talking about her mother is only making her feel worse.

“Is something the matter, mutt?” Momo chastises. “I don’t know how anyone could cry on a day like this. Bored, certainly, but not be driven to tears.”

“Yeah, I mean, you got to see your big sisters today! Today’s all about you! Everyone around pretty much HAVE to care about you! Momo didn’t even want to be here, I think you can be happy about that? Here,” Ringo brings back out her flask, letting Ichigo smell the liquor within. “Win or lose, why don’t you get your ascension started early?”

“I’m not thirsty…” Ichigo pushes away the liquor. She’s no drinker, but even if it was a flask of milk, any additional liquids might push her over the edge.

“Put that up, sis. You are already so sloshed, your aura is prancing around around like a jackass. The mist itself starting to become inebriated by your antics!”

“Don’t be so rude, downer!”

Ichigo cannot care about the spat between her “sisters”, people she has met for all of five minutes.

“Speaking of aura…” Momo takes a good whiff about the place, not knowing the few people in the crowd cocking their heads to her act. “Yours...isn’t quite right, even for a mutt. Hmm...Ringo, make some small talk for a minute or two.” She reaches behind the arm of the loveseat they are on, pulling on the golden staff with a blood-red jewel perched on top. Clutching it in both hands, she begins to mumble words.

“You know I don’t do ‘small’ talk, sis. I cut to the nitty-gritty!” Ringo gives herself a self-indulgent thumbs-up, beaming a smug grin towards Ichigo, not noticing her balling her fists.

“Then you can do me a favor,” burst Ichigo, being fed up with the constant noise in her ears “and explain why mom isn’t here!”

“Huh?! Ooofff, ow, uh… Okay, I don’t cut... that deep to the nitty-gritty...”

Ichigo stares daggers into Ringo. “If everyone supposed to care about today, than where’s mom?”

♥♥♥

Savanna stands in the crowd, just as they are starting to notice the commotion on the couch. They can’t even pretend to care about the orator, going on for far too long. They much rather look at the mutt princess, staring down and interrogating the jubilant Ringo, the crowd favorite. Her little Ichigo looks dreadful, the grace she was exhibiting earlier all but left her. She’s looking less like a princess and more like a thug, a villain, a prima donna by the second.

She attempts to find Umi, lost somewhere among the many people. _‘It shouldn’t be this hard to find one human in a mass of ny’oni, why, gods!?’_ thinks the bunny woman. She regrets slacking on her mist training when she was young, if she didn’t, finding Umi would be a cinch. She hopes that she’s still keeping up her magic, and can only give faith to Ichigo’s performance can recover her faith in peop--

“Oof!”

Savanna walks straight into a ny’oni with mousey ears. “Daisy! There you are, where have you been?!”

“Where have I been?!” retorts Daisy. “You are the ones that left me! I swear to the gods, Lin stared me in the eyes! How could you all leave me, Savanna!? Me!?”

“Listen, can we have this discussion later? We have a situ--”

“Furthermore, whatcha going to do about Ichigo?! Just gonna let her go while she’s up on stage or something!?”

“We’ve sorted that out! That isn’t the problem right, now, Daisy. And watch your tone, you are talking to your superior!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! It’s kind of hard to do that when your ‘superior’ leaves you alone on a boat filled with rowdy men! Am I even part of the entourage?! Am I not one of Ichigo’s most stalwart protectors?!”

“Daisy, please, can we have this ano-- MILADY Ichigo!”

“Oh! You can’t apologize, but you sure can lecture!”

The duo’s argument spirals into retort after retort, grievance after grievance. Daisy’s a lazy klutz, Savanna’s an overprotective nag who abuses her station. The two women were at each other’s neck, an honest achievement for Daisy, given the height gap between her and Savanna. A good portion of the crowd saw the maids’ quarrel, another mark against Ichigo. Something that, in the back of her mind, pains Savanna more than any words said today…

♥♥♥

Ichigo looks towards Ringo with venomous eyes. She feels reckless, daring even. Deep down, she wishes she can feel like this all the time.

“Uhh…” Ringo keeps her lips sealed.

“I know you said you don’t do small talk, but I guess that doesn’t include no-talk-at-all!”

“Easy, I’m still your big sis. I have a right to protect you from info that I know will hurt you.” Ringo knows that she should hit herself for saying that, as Ichigo inches closer. Honestly, if she swung at her, she wouldn’t even dodge it, she knows that Momo would have certainly done it by now.

“So you do know! So I am right! You can at least tell me, your ‘little sis’!”

All eyes in the crowd are looking dead-on into Ichigo. Were this any other day, the embarrassment would probably killed her right where she sat.

“Tell you what, little girl?!”

“Tell me that my mom doesn’t care about me at all, that I did all of this for nothing, that I might as well not exist!”

“Sure…” says Momo with a snap and a teethy breath. Ichigo immediately sits down and braces herself. “But I rather say that when you aren’t cursed with...whatever going on with you.”

Momo may not be able to see it but Ringo, as well as the entire crowd watching sees the crown princess of the eastern bloc’s tantrum be immediately silenced by…

..her need to go…

“ _Ahem_! You’re welcome, mutt!”

♥♥♥

Umi hits the ground, coughing hard. Seeing an old woman collapse is enough to take a little of the crowd’s attention off of Ichigo. It was enough to break up Daisy’s and Lin’s spat right in the moment. The pair immediately breaks through the crowd that surrounded them, rushing to her side.

“What happened?!” says Savanna in a panic.

“Sh-- --cough cough!-- she cut off my magic! Like th—urakk!! Cough cough!!” Umi’s coughing fit doesn’t stop. Savanna can only hold her and wipe the blood off of the old maid’s hands. Things are spiralling far out of her control, everything going worse than anything she expected. She can only imagine how Ichigo must feel at the mo--

“Oh no…”

♥♥♥

Alba can see the crowd getting rowdy by the second. Even with being all the way in the back, she can hear how much of the crowd are turning on her princess. Some of the comments are quite hurtful, enough that she would start stabbing the crowd if any of it reached Ichigo.

“Is that girl alright?”

“What is that girl doing to the princesses of the west!?”

“She’s mean, mother!”

“What nerve!”

“Glad the Queen isn’t here to see this, haha!”

“I see why she was exiled.”

Alba throws down her cap and stomps on it on frustration.  
“Hey! Hey!! I don’t see any of you acting like saints around here!” yells the ferocious feline. She kicks up a storm of dirt, much of it covering some bystanders previously unaware of the brat behind them.

“The Hells, what’s up with you!?”

“Gah, my eyes!”

“Who is this kid?!”

“Is she one of the mutt’s lackeys?!”

“What?! She having her bastards kick dirt in our eyes or something?!”

“You better pay for this dress, dammit! I didn’t spend hundreds of cobolts just for some mutt brat to ruin it!”

It doesn’t take long for Alba to realize how badly she screwed up, as a portion of the crowd begins to circle around her. She tries to maintain a brave face, but without quick access to her knife, including the stash she has stored inside Vinny, she knows she’s helpless. She stumbles back, into the legs of some of the increasingly hostile mob. They push her straight into the ground, Vinny doing nothing to soften the landing. Periwinkles scatter about her basket goes flying out of her hands, into parts unknown to Alba. She clutches her support animal, bracing for impact, like she has done so many times before…

Only for a wolvan women with bloodshot eyes to descend from the surrounding rooftops, upon the middle of the crowd, brandishing a blade the length of her tail. She takes a protectorate stance over Alba, covering her head in the fetal position.

“Lin-Lin! Help me!” cries Alba, clutching her ursine backpack friend like a scared child.

The angry mob didn’t know who this woman was or why she had a sword turned against them, defending the mutt that dared assault them first. Some of them took up arms themselves, raring their dukes and claws or taking out some of the party favors they had – flagpoles and wooden noise makers – to arms. The rowdy drunkards, fueled by bravado ones charged in, seeing if they can get a shot at the woman. Some did, bruising and clawing Lin’s ribs, hips, and legs. Some even managed to hit Alba twice over, a knot has begunswelling on the top of her head. But most were knocked over by Lin’s strong legs and rock-solid forehead. But it only fuels their rage and brought over more of the crowd, the two parties trading more blows.

Lin wanted to get Alba, even Ichigo out of this desperate situation. She’s losing control over the crowd and even herself, not desiring to use lethal force. Most in Ichigo’s entourage regard her as the strongest, the mightiest. But she never saw herself that. She’s like Alba, the first to fight when needed, but unlike her only when she has the advantage. Truthfully, she’s as weak as Ichigo without it. Even with all her years of training, even with her steel nerves, she knows that she’s nothing but a liability on a real battlefield. The calming night lets her maintain her focus, sneak up and scare off assailants that get too close to her lady’s home. With her red eyes and shining silver glowing in the dark, she never had to fight head-to-head like this. Each blow she ripostes only reminds her more, only loses her more ground, only lose more control of the situation. She just needs to clear out enough of the crowd, enough for Alba to run off back onto the ship. But even when she knocks over men and women like bowling pins, the fraidy-cat just won’t move. Lin begins to worry if she was knocked unconscious already, wonder if she can carry Alba out without leading a mob straight back towards them. But now she can’t worry. All she can do is keep up appearances, bear her fangs, flourish her moonsilver blade, and not kill anyone.

“AGH!”

Lin swipes her sword towards someone rushing her, knicking the ursine. A bit of blood seeps down her cheek and onto her blade. But a bit was all it took for the white in Lin’s eyes to come flooding back in, her nerve to leave right along with the red. She pauses, long enough to miss the rock flying straight into her torso, knocking the wind out of her. She falls back, tripping over Alba, her nodachi flying out of her grip. Both girls are laid out flat, an angry mob now looking scarier than Lin ever did in Alba’s eyes.

“Lin-Lin! Lin! Get up!” cries Alba, crawling on top and shaking the wolf girl out of her stupor. Lin tries to recover, attempts to crawl back on her feet, but she can’t. She’s not exhausted, and her bruises aren’t major. And she could easily catch back the breath she lost, keep the fight going for round 2. But the memories...the fear...the quivers and shakes she has long repressed has came back with a vengeance. The rock that struck her has nothing on that sinking, sickening feeling as it overwhelms the bodyguard, causing her to spit up and fall back down, face first. With copious amounts of saliva and what she believes was her small morning meal covering her face, she dares not move, do anything that would uncover more unpleasant memories from the depths of her fragile psyche.

Not even bothering to hold her bladder as she marks the dirt road with a day’s worth of water, her black robes and bodysuit doing nothing to hide her fear and shame.

Alba would be disgusted, would be pissed off to be pissed on like this, having never let go and stuck to the hip to her would-be protector, were it not for the mighty crowd that cares little for the two cowards that can’t take what they dish. Deep down, she envies Lin. At this point, she wouldn’t mind if the last thing she did was fall unconscious, pissing her pants on the way down. Beats being awake for this…

♥♥♥

Ichigo shivers. The numbness she felt for the past 30 minutes has disappeared, replaced with a burning, searing pain all throughout her lower parts. All that bravado she had on the couch, facing down Ringo dissipated; all that anguish she had back on the ship, staring at the horrible chefs returned. She can feel another spurt stain her panties, some of it even seeping onto the love-seat. Her water balloon felt thin, stretched to its absolute limit as the tap was bashed back on, the valve breaking off for good. Her dam has begun to breech, the cracks becoming foundational wounds as water weathers the last of its integrity. Without a bathroom or an Umi in sight, the dress her ladies slaved over themselves making and garbing her for hours; the day she spent an entire year rehearsing for; her whole, miserable existence she suffered for the sake of seeing just a tiny ounce of respect from her mother for… is about to be irrevocably ruined!

“Woah, sis! Whatcha did to her? She’s shaking like a leaf in the wind!” proclaims Ringo loudly.

“Nothing much! I just **dispelled** some kind of old hag’s curse from her. You act like I poisoned he--” says Momo, twirling her staff in the palm of her hands. “Her aura even sprung back to life, as small and pitiable as mutts usually are.”

“Iiiiiii don’t think that’s the only thing that sprung…”

“What ever do you mean?”

Ichigo can’t speak. She doesn’t even feel like she can breathe. A tsunami is washing over her, an agony she never experienced in her young life. She needs every muscle, every fiber of her being to grab a grip on herself, shield herself from the inevitable flood. She claws into herself, huddles her tiny, portly body into herself, princessliness-be-damned.

“Ahem! And without further ado…” says the mousely orator, ignorant of his surroundings. This is the third time he’s done this, albeit never having to say so much about someone he couldn’t give a damn about. He can only pray that Anzu doesn’t squeeze out a fourth, even more secretive and unknown daughter that he has to tell their entire life story about to the unwashed masses. “I present you the crown princess of the east’s: Ichigo Sunada! May she sing the Queen’s Oratorio with…!”

Ichigo stares at the orator with pitiable eyes. He stands confusedly, watching the girl clutch herself, paralyzed in pain. She can see past him the even-more confused, displeased crowd. It sinks into her that they been watching. This whole time, they watched every mistake and faux-pas she’s made ever since she got off the boat. They look fed up, sick of the girl from the moment they all laid their eyes on her. She feels the moment she sang even one word of her song, they will descend upon her and beat the life out of her, a miserable end to a miserable creature. If her bladder is tormenting her physical being, the disgusted, angry, disapproving stares are strangling the life out of her mental.

The world doesn’t just fall apart, it implodes under Ichigo’s feet.

Ichigo doesn’t hear the argument between her elder sisters, each blaming each other for sapping the life out of her eyes. She doesn’t feel herself stand up and hobbles towards the mic, her wet panties rubbing against her thighs and privates. She doesn’t see the orator reaching out a confused, weakly-reassuring arm, missing her as she walks closer to the orb that lies on the stage. She spent the better part of this day numbed and eased to life’s worries, but this was a different numbness. This was one was a numbness akin to being caught out in the deathly cold, the numbness you feel when your body wants your mind and spirit to give up and embrace an ugly, undignified death. As Ichigo grips the orb, its glassy sheen and raw, emanating power over the mist jolting her hands and causing her braids to fly on up, the orb that that would echo her voice all across the Peninsula, the orb that will channel her thoughts and feelings as she sings the Queen’s Oratorio, she can only feel three things in her greatest, her most direst of moments.

One is her bladder, fit to rupture itself at any moment, as she presses it into the stand that held the orb in place for her, all this time. A “saner” Ichigo would relish the pain it is bringing her, wishing it would bring her a swift death once it bursts, the exploded organ bleeding out, with the rest of her body falling with it. The only reason it hasn’t failed yet is that she no longer has control over her body, the panic that has possessed it wanting her to suffer more and more and more and more.

Another is her heartbeat, the icy stares and roars of the crowd doing nothing but elevating its increasing rate. If her bladder doesn’t explode, her chest cavity will. It may kill her painfully, but it would be a pain she deserves. The anxiety insists, the spectacle the scene will cause will finally have her contribute anything of worth. It strangles her heart in a vice-grip, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice.

The final is her ears, as they vibrate from the information they are absorbing. Her ear drums bang into her brain, doing nothing but reminding her that she hasn’t ascended to the heavens yet. She is stuck on the cold earth of Pent, as her terror puts it. It stretches her foxy ears to its most painful of limits, wanting her know every word her people have to say about her. It wants her mind to drown, be devoured in the doubts, the anger, the shame of the crowd. It wants her to listen to every word, and even the words that aren’t being said. The words her mother can’t be saying at this very moment, for those are the words that hurt the most.

The demons within Ichigo has nigh-complete control over her. All she can do is take the orb, fall into her knees, and stare at the crowd. The orb reverberates her raspy gasps and pants, attracting all the attention right into herself.

“Is she okay?”

“I hope she pisses herself, like the bitch she is!”

“Is anyone going to do anything?!”

“Someone stop this farce!”

“She’s no princess!”

“Ichigo!”

“Die already!”

“You are going to pay what you owe!”

“Get off the damn stage!”

“Ichigo!”

“Die.”

“DIE.”

“DIE.”

“DIE.”

“DIE.”

“ _ **ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!”**_

Ichigo awakens, the world in her mind hasn’t fallen just yet. The stage, the road, the sea, the boat, that all fallen into oblivion. The people and their voices have all but disappeared into the darkness. She’s still kneeling, her bladder and heart ready to explode. But her mind has given her a sense of clarity in its last breath, wanting her to see the people that she loves.

She sees Savanna, screaming her name in a tizzy.

She sees Daisy, holding her with one arm, trying in vain to stop her from rushing the stage.

She sees Umi, collapsed in Daisy’s arms, blood in her hands.

She sees Lin, all the way in the back, down on the ground, looking like she already given up the battle Ichigo is on the crux of losing.

She sees Alba, all the way in the back, who has found a knife out of her stuffed friend, ready to fight her life.

She sees the people that hope in her the most.

She sees the people that need her the most.

Ichigo can’t give up now. She can die whenever, but not until she knows her maids are safe.

Ichigo tries to sing. But her voice has been swallowed by the darkness that consumes all.

Ichigo tries to move. But the demons will not let go their tight grip until they are done.

Ichigo can only do the one thing that will let Daisy let go, so she can tend to Umi. So that she can distract the fiends that are bullying and torturing Alba and Lin. That will have Savanna swoop on in and rush her away from it all.

Ichigo lets go, letting the demon holding her bladder hostage do its work and pop her balloon, decimate her damn, let the tsunami drown her in its warm, oppressing embrace. All she has to do is breathe…

and release…

release…

RELEASE…

The seconds, lifetimes tick by Ichigo.

She feels nothing but more pain. More agony. More disappointment. The images of her maid disappears in the black ether. Her mind shatters, done with its failure of a host. She stands alone in the torture that is her existence.

She truly has no control over anything in her life anymore.

“I admire your rebellion.”

♥♥♥

Ichigo awakens. Grass lies underneath her. Her body feels heavy, broken even, as she rolls onto her side. The pain causes her to roll back. She opens her eyes, seeing the night-sky that has over taken the night. “ _This isn’t the stage_ ”, she thinks. She looks down, seeing her dress robes torn, holes overtaking it. The grass and mud that cakes it. The blood that accents it.

And the pee that has stained every part of it, from head-to-toe, from collar-to-fluff.

She really did have an accident. Whether here or… back there… She can’t even begin to imagine just how she must have let go, how much her “dam” burst. Given how deep some of the stains, how oversaturated the grass under her feels, she must have erupted like a geyser. She’s not aware how much was stored inside. But given how urine is pooling around her butt, how the smell is making her dizzy, it has to be half a gallon? More? Less? She rather not think about it, she rather get out of her… mess and have Daisy bathe her.

Maybe even Lin, no matter how long she’s been outside, she always smelt clean…

…Umi might know how to… get the stains out…

…Alba… Alba always knew how to get her pajamas warm and… and cozy…

…And Savanna… Savanna… Savanna...

...Ichigo cries in despair. She never felt more alone…

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter underwent several revisions and much internal discussion with myself. I actually had this prepared for a number of weeks, but I honestly wasn't satisfied with how I made it. In the end, though, I think I managed to get it to a satisfactory level without having to scrap the entire chapter or work. It honestly helped me understood the mental anguish that goes into writing. But I can't say it was unproductive, unwarranted, or even unwelcomed. Challenges like these are fun to overcome!
> 
> And to help those keeping track:  
> Daisy's Accidents -- 1  
> Lin's Accidents -- 1  
> Ichigo's Accidents -- ~~1~~ 2
> 
> Corrected as of 4/5/2020
> 
> 4/18/2020 -- Fixed some more typos and clarified some more things. Seriously, how am I missing so many incomplete sentences for so long???


	4. Ichigo Sunada's Lost & Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lost in a forest without clean clothes, Ichigo tries to recollect herself. But when night falls...

...15 minutes.

15 minutes is how long Ichigo believes she has been walking in these dense wood. 15 minutes of walking in wet, tattered clothes, the smell of ammonia overpowering her senses. 15 minutes of red, sore eyes being unwilling to see where she is or where she needs to go. 15 minutes of dragging her canine tail in the mud, each ring of it slowly sliding off, loosening their grip on its ragged fluffiness. 15 minutes of sulking, cursing her birth, her circumstances, her predicaments…

...Her loneliness.

15 minutes isn’t a long time. It pales in comparison to the hour she spent just crying, rolling back and forth on the ground, screaming her lungs out for someone, anyone to help her. Save her. She’s lost, she’s hungry, she’s broken. Everything, her mind, body, soul, hurts, and now she just wants someone to pick her up and carry her back to her bed. She wants to lock herself in her villa, in her room, she never wants to leave it ever again. She’ll never ask for anything again, not even to breathe, if she is allowed to leave this green tomb and return back to her own.

But sitting around won’t let her do that.

That was her thinking when she picked herself up and started to walk...limp her way through. It feels like everything but her bladder hurts now, some parts more than others. She doesn’t remember when or how she got hurt, or even what part does. She wonders if she suffering some sort of backlash from Umi’s Ease spell, or the crowd got to her. Her head hurts too much to try to remember, dwelling on the now, even the failures that led her here is less painful. And in the 15 or so minutes she’s been wandering, little has changed.

The verdant woodlands Ichigo finds herself in has been quiet. Eerily so, her ears aren’t even picking up the chirping of birds or trampling of woodland critters. Even in her villa, she can always hear some kind of critter crossing by her window. Dew drips down on the pinewood needles of the sky-high trees, so dense and tall they nearly block the sky. Moss squish underneath Ichigo’s sandals, dampening both the bottoms of her stockings and her white tail. It’s all so...serene. Not even this perpetual wallflower, this hikkimori, this royal room dweller can feel scared or anxious in a place so easygoing. Were it not for everything else that happened today (It has to be today. Her clothes still feel clammy), she would love to come here, wish that everywhere was like this place.

But today(?) did happen. Today(?) hasn’t quite ended yet. And so Ichigo hates this place. She despises this place, the outdoors. It’s too quiet, its too cold, its too wet. Her royal garbs are getting even dirtier by the second, and she hates this stuff too. The only reason she hasn’t bare her claws and rip off these piss-soaked garments was that she hates being naked more. And her arm hurts too, she hates her arm hurting so much, too much to even move it in such a violent fervor, like to punch all these dumb, never-ending trees. And she hates whoever brought her here, whatever brought her here. She hates being stinky and wet, and she hopes whoever or whatever did this to her is stinky and wet too.

Hate is powerful. Hate has what managed to pick her up and keep moving. But hate is fleeting. And Ichigo was never one to keep hating. Or even have the energy to keep hating.

And so Ichigo, what has to be 30, no, 40 minutes of continuous limping, sits on a large moss-covered, flat rock, tired and defeated. Walking is exhausting. Hating and walking, doubly so. And so Ichigo sits her soft, wet rump on the hard, wet rock. She’s too tired to even care about being dirty, stinky, and wet at this point. She deeply breathes, letting go of all the anger that was keeping her moving, maybe to make her even more tired. Cause this all does feel like a bad dream. Now that she has the time to think, maybe it is. Maybe she still is past out on the stage, or even Savanna’s arms as she carries her away from the living nightmare of...whatever happened there. Maybe that’s why she’s hurting everywhere, the snuggle-bunny is just squeezing the life out her unconscious form, its what she has to do in order to wake up the heavy sleeper. The thought brought about the tiniest glimpses of a smile, a chuckle from Ichigo. If she’s asleep, unconscious, then all she has to do is…

“Yip!”

That small spark of a smile is quickly dimmed as she realizes that pinching did not work. She’s still here, on this flat rock, her dress robes covering her fat ass getting drenched in pee and dew by the second. Umi isn’t tending to her wounds. Lin isn’t safeguarding her unconscious body. Alba isn’t making get-well soon cards and plushies. Daisy isn’t cooking something with the right herbs and spices so she can recover faster. And Savanna isn’t holding her, coddling her, waiting for her to wake up from her nightmares. Ichigo is here, not-so-wide awake, still living in the ceaseless nightmare that is her life.

She’s alone. Solo. One girl. She has no support. For the first time in her life, no one can bother her. No one can love her. No one can do anything to her. It’s like a genie has given her most desired wish. And now she regrets it. This isn’t what she wanted. If she was going to be alone, she wants to be with the few people that will let her be alone.

She might be hurt, but being alone is what really is killing her.

Ichigo can at least cradle herself. The robes are torn enough, the ribbon loose enough that she can reach her legs now. Regardless of how much they hurt, she can do this alone. She can hold her furry legs and...just...lie still...

♥♥♥

Ichigo doesn’t hold herself like this for long. She’d like to think a second wind, her other reserve of willpower that lies deep within her heart won’t let her sob like this. Like some lost babe in the woods. She can’t admit defeat, yet. Or if she will, she can at least do it on her own bed, like a real princess!

As reassuring that would be at a crisis like this, in reality, Ichigo’s stomach had more to do with getting her moving again than the vestiges of will she could collect. It feels tight, yet hallow at the same time. The ribbon around it has lost its tautness, its drooping like it is as depressed as its owner, yet her stomach still feels like its hurting. Like there’s a ribbon inside, holding the flow of her guts hostage.

Ichigo dreads the thought that she might be… She quickly kicks it out of her mind and gets to scrounging about something to eat. It’s more than likely that she’s starving, she hasn’t had anything but breast milk and cookies all day, and she’s been walking, waiting for so long. Ichigo may be no explorer, but Lin and Daisy has at least taught her about delicious berries and delectable herbs she can forage around the villa, if she ever found herself in a mood to explore. Not that it ever came to that, but knowledge is the only form of power Ichigo can get. She’s lost in a woodland, even without critters, there has to be something she can put in her mouth.

The mutt scours the earthen floors and eyes the skies. The stains that cloak her clothes interfere quite a bit in using her nose, the pungent smells almost enough to lose her appetite. But the hunger of a lady is far greater than her disgust, and eventually, she scrounges up a fistful of red, squishy orbs and a plant that doesn’t look to be poison ivy. She swallows it all, the bitterness of the grassy herb is washed away in the sweet juices that now drown her throats. In an instant, her eyes perk up and the endless waves of dull pain that wracked her body slow down, the relief she feels easing much of her worries. Ichigo licks her lips, not worrying about what remains of the foundation that’s been running off her face since she got here. She grabs another handful, dropping each one down her gullet, like passengers free-falling out of an airship and into the maw of some horrific creature. Ichigo doesn’t care how ripe they are, if they are poisonous, or even if they are all that delicious, some of the berries are more sour than sweet, she quickly realizes. None of that matters to the girl who lost everything, finding one bit of solace in this woodland wasteland.

Ichigo would have plucked every berry, devoured the entire bush if she had to, were it not for the uncomfortable tautness of her belly. Her “meal” did nothing to resolve it, it still feels heavy and overburdened (ignoring her weight…). She raises the robes that drape over it enough so she can caress it in her cold hands. Her lumpy midsection doesn’t welcome them, her belly rubs do nothing but make her shiver and sweat some more. That dreading thought returns…

Ichigo Sunada… needs to do… that... in the woods…

Saying she “needs” to go isn’t quite right, though. She feels packed, sure, but not like how her bladder felt earlier today. It’s not like her puckered starfish is gaping at the seams, ready to add some brown to match the yellow stains that adorn the white floof. But to be frank, she kind of wishes it was like that. Walking around, constantly feeling packed to the brim will only add more to the overwhelming feeling of pain that has grip her ligaments and mind. But she is nowhere near a toilet, and she rather take that than having to debase herself anymore than she already has today.

After all, she’s still a princess. A crown princess, but a princess nonetheless.

And so the princess use her revitalized self to scour about this tranquil, silent woodlands, in search of a more proper place to do her business. Her gut is her only “companion”, always making its presence known, but doing very little. The berries and herbs slosh in her stomach, constantly asking the hybrid to second guess her survival instincts. All of this keeps her mind busy enough to avoid sulking about her predicament, keeping at bay the thoughts of isolation and terror. The only question she has is about her location is that if there is bathroom, and if she can use.

The story doesn’t change for the rest of the day, the small tinges of orange that beam past the canopy of the forest begin to go dark. Ichigo only grows frustrated at her inability to navigate this forest. Despite limping her way in what has to be a straight line, she feels turned around, even more lost than she has starting this adventure. Dirt has caked over the bottom of what remains of her dress, the rings that held her tails together fall off, exposing the twin tails to the elements. It’s a good reminder that she’s a mutt, one that doesn’t have the night-vision of her single-blooded betters. If she doesn’t find a privy or even shelter soon, Ichigo fears that she will never find one. Debasing herself would be the least of her worries at that point. It’s enough for Ichigo to transition from her hurried limping to a rushing flail, anything that would pick up the pace as well as keep her small pool of stamina up and ready.

Ichigo hops, skips, trips, even attempts to claw on all 4 for the briefest of moments in her rush, feeling less like a princess and more like a beast by the moment. The sun uncaring begins its descent below the horizon, the night beginning to snuff out the little bit of light she had to navigate. Ichigo doesn’t _think_ she has a fear of the dark, she never needed a nightlight, even when Umi asked her such. But she’s does fear about having to find out. More invasive thoughts pierce her addled mind. What if this forest was a shelter for nocturnal creatures? Predators that pride themselves as master hunters, that can track down the smallest of footsteps made by those that had trespassed on their turf in the day. All they had to do was wait for them to get tired or lost in this cage of greenery, and they could just SNAP them up in an instant! Oh, this can’t be the end of her, not now! The light begins to dwindle, the sun twinkles its last rays of hope past the thick trees when Ichigo damns her royal station -- everyone on Pent more than likely has already – and bursts into a 4-legged sprint. One that would...disappoint her hunter-gatherer ancestors, make the professional sprinters cringe at her poor form and traction, even her speed, but its her only option. She exhausts her stamina, trying to outrace the sun, hoping, praying that it would be her salvation to civilization…!

...Only to stop right at the razor’s edge of the end of the forest…

...And down a cliff slide

...Off a plunge that would take a solid minute to reach the zenith of…

Ichigo stares down the sheer drop. The dense forest she found herself on ends on this side, leading only to death. She can see the ocean, stare at the view as the sun dips below the horizon. All it would take is one more step and Ichigo would have fallen for how knows long. Whatever this place is, its up high, sky high. And if there is an escape, its most definitely not from here.

The Sunada backs off from the cliff side just as the sun sinks. Night has come. And Ichigo is officially lost. Her sweaty self begrudges the fact that she’s trapped here. She’s no survivalist. She only read stories of people, real and fictional, that have found themselves lost and had to live off the land. It’s not like any of that stuff teaches REAL survival tricks, and certainly none could teach her how to fend off wild predators with a hankering for chubby fox-wolf meat. Ichigo woozily perches her back against a tree, once again hyperventilating. This really is going to be the end for her…

...Not that her stomach would let her. That sinking feeling has only gotten heavier, the sprint doing nothing to loosen that tight, packed feeling in it. The constant inhaling-exhaling Ichigo does whenever she gets into a tizzy is only making it worse. A stomachache develops in real-time, one that floors her onto the muddy dirt.

“Ouuaaaghhhh….” groans the heaving, beastly princess. She has no choice, this sucks to be walking around with. If she hopes to outrun the beasts that are surely making their way to her location, she needs to “lighten her load”. Ichigo ponders for a second about where would be most appropriate in this situation. She thinks about letting loose over the cliff side, leaving no trace of her “wrongdoings”. But as she approaches, she backs off. The night has shrouded the cliff side in darkness, and there’s no way she would feel confident in maintaining her balance. The bottom feeders of the sea will just have to wait for someone that’s more of a daredevil if they want a sky meal.

Ichigo thinks back to her some of her books. Military fiction was a personal favorite, the many wars the civilizations of Pent got into made for such dramatic stories. Clan wars, monster exterminations, grand wars, these stories always made Ichigo feel vindicated about the dangers of the world, the tension keeping her hooked to the bitter end. More importantly, she remember how in one story, soldiers that found themselves behind enemy lines were lost in the woods, like she was. She read the rather descriptive tale of them digging their own latrines, letting go, and needing to cover their mess if they hope to leave no trace of their exploits. She thought it was silly then, the story not needing to explain such or had to go into such...details about it. But it did gave her enough of an idea. Shame she has no shovel.

She sighs as she takes out her claws, ready to paw and shovel at the dirt. She begins to get second thoughts, thinking about the sight of the crown princess of the eastern bloc needing to do such a thing. But she had no choice. It wasn’t like she wanted to be lost in the woods or wanted to do this. She thinks about the questions the people would have if she survives this, about how and what she had to do. She knows someone is going to ask and she will just die right there, the embarrassment garroting her right at the spot. But before she can think about a demon of hers strangling her, she rather deal with the one strangling her stomach. Mind made up, Ichigo strikes the earth, preparing herself to leave her own.

Her hands and arms ache by the time they are done. This small hole was hard work for her to make, albeit more emotionally exhausting than physically. Not that it wasn’t for someone like her… But her hands weren’t done yet. She had to hike up what remains of her dress and pull down the pants. Both are tattered, some kind of divine mercy had to have been granted to make sure none fell off her all day. Or some divine punishment, given that they had became cold and clammy by this time… Still, she can’t afford for them to get any dirtier than they already were, especially by...that… Ichigo holds her garbs away, squats down, and grunts. She can only hopes that there’s no splash-back, else there will be no hope in maintaining anything out of the hard work her maids put into making and putting her into this mess of a dress.

Luckily for her, there was no splash-back.

Unfortunately, its because nothing came out.

“Grrrr! Mmmmm! _Aaaauugghhh! Groooooaaa!_ ” Ichigo heaves, ho’s, and groans her way, taking only a little care in muffling herself. But nothing moves, not towards her or out her. Not even wind breaks through. She knows that this point she has to “go”, HAS to, but nothing is coming out. No matter how much Ichigo strains, she can only deal herself more unneeded pain, enough that she falls back into her hole. She thinks she’s lucky there’s nothing in there, but she would actually be lucky if there WAS something there. Here she is, squatting down, in the middle of the woods, her rumpus open for everyone to see, ruining her dress and her image of a princess, and her body doesn’t even give her the courtesy of actually making a bowel movement when she TRIES to. Her frustration growls like her stomach. What could she have eaten that would cause such blockage?!

Granted, forest herbs and berries aren’t the brightest ideas of a supper to indulge in. Even she knows that. But she was having these pangs before she dined on the treats of the woods, she realizes. The only thing she had was plenty of tea, some biscuits, and... breast milk. Ah… But even in that last regard, it always makes its course out one way or another. She’s not like Alba, who confided in her the one time she had some dairy when she was young and had – as she would put it – a “blowout” in the middle of the street. It’s not like Ichigo to be clogged up from dairy, she knows it would break both her and Savanna’s hearts for her to be like that.

More so than her heart was already broken by being so separated from all her beloved maids.

Ichigo picks herself up, holding her stomach. She dresses herself up the best she can, everything feeling looser than they already were. Everything but her colon. She sighs, leaving the hole where it lies and walking about a bit. Maybe she just needs to loosen up everything with a bit more movement, she believes.

At least she thinks until she trips over a tree root.

“Mmmm--!” whines the princess, growing dirtier by the second. The forest has grown dark without the few rays of the sun beaming past the canopy. Ichigo, lying down, holds both of her tails close to her, closer than her growing fear of what lies in the dark. She gulps. Ichigo thought the dark was one of her few friends in her life. But now she’s starting to think that HER darkness, the black corners of her room. The silence of the forest only unnerves her, as she is left alone with her thoughts.

Alone among demons, whether those of her thoughts or those waiting to snatch her into their hungry maws.

Ichigo scrambles herself up, holding her tails tighter and tighter. Each step she makes crunch the moss and leaves underneath her sandals, each one reminding her of what is inevitably coming. Her rough, staggered breathing fogs up her glasses, limiting her eyesight even more. Her whines echoes off the trees, yet not even scaring off nocturnal birds. As the cold of the night sets in, her shivering only intensifies. The wet spots of her dress feel like they are freezing over to her, making her almost miss how warm the urine made her feel.

Almost, as she’s starting to feel the other need to go once more.

Ichigo’s mind is too preoccupied with surviving the night to take too much heed to her growing need. Her few bits of confidence left remaining were dedicated to her ability to hold her bladder, prior events notwithstanding. But as the night grows darker, her fear rents more and more real-estate in her mind, that bit of pride only fades. Now she worries that letting go will just mark her location to the hunters. Now she worries that urinating will only freeze herself. Now she worries if she doesn’t, she won’t be warm enough to run away from those that will come. Could she stop and just urinate here, in the dark? Could anybody see her, judge her? Could she see herself?! Does she have the time to stop and let go?! Who?! What?! Where?!

Ichigo breathing intensifies. She feels dizzy, turned around. Her arms and legs once again begin to ache. It hurts too much to break into another 4-legged sprint, she needs her arms to hold her crotch. She doesn’t know how long she would have to hold it, how long she could hold her bladder. Every time she trips over another root, every time she slams into another tree root, every time she collides with the dirt under her feet, she feels the need to stop, scream, curl up and die to make it stop. But she can’t stop. She can’t stop running. She can’t stop holding herself. She can’t stop running. She can’t stop breathing. She can’t stop running. She can’t stop being afraid. She can’t stop. She can’t stop! She can’t stop!!

Ichigo doesn’t want to die! Ichigo doesn’t want to pee herself! Ichigo doesn’t want to stop running! Ichigo doesn’t want to be eaten! But Ichigo can’t choose them all! She just can’t! Why!? Why!? WHY!? WH--

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Ichigo feels something wrap againts her ankle!

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”**

She feels her head slam against the dirt floor, the impact knocking away her glasses to parts the gods knows where!

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”**

She feels herself being held upside-down, far off the ground!

“ _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”**_

She’s trapped! She’s trapped! She’s dead!! She’s dead!! A monster has her caught!! She’s dead!! She’s dead!! No amount of flailing, no amount of screaming, no amount of peeing will ever free her!! She’s dead!! She’s dead!! She’s DEAD!!!

“A-are you okay?! Lady!?”

Ichigo can’t respond. She feels like the blood rushing to her head is already falling out her ears, much like the foam streaming out her mouth is sliding down her face. Nothing feels real, nothing feels alive. All she knows is that she’s dead and there’s nothing she or anyone else can do.

Not even the blinding light coming closer.

“Lady?! Gosh, did you--?! Sweet potatoes, what have I done!?”

The voice sounds shocked, but to Ichigo, it all sounds muffled. She feels faint. Why haven’t the gods picked her up yet, why hasn’t the monster swallowed her whole yet? Why? Why…? Why….

Ichigo Sunada lets go. She accepts her fate and lets herself go. Her dam, barely recovered from today, once again breaches with a mighty gush of water, trickling down her body, to the soil below. The dark urine flows down, mixing with the blood, sweat, mud, and tears that covers the fainting princess. It catches in her braided hair, her free-flowing, white tails. It gets into her dress, places that her previous wetting has failed to saturate. The added weight, the lacking support, the fact that their wearer is currently suspended, all factors in her bits of clothes slidding off and falling to the void below with a _thud_. It’s blinding what remains of her darkening vision, the big ball of light below her fading from view. Ichigo can’t even care, she’s dead anyway. Waterboarding herself, wetting herself upside-down was just what fate had in store for her, her last humiliating act before she leaves this mortal coil. Ichigo can’t stop the flow, but she can stop screaming.

Stop speaking.

Stop being awake…

Stop… being... alive…

“Augh-ack, bleck, pitoo! MY HAIR! MY WINGS! WHY, LADY!?”

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha, almost missed my deadline... Glad I made it in time. Sheesh, starting to become closer to Ichigo than I feel comfortable. But yeah, we are finally at the spire! There's many mysteries that lie in this place, so I hope we can venture along and uncover them together!
> 
> Also I was made aware that Ichigo's accident count should have been +1 than what I posted in Chapter III, given the flashback wetting in Chapter II, so...
> 
> Ichigo's Accidents -- 3  
> Daisy's Accidents -- 1  
> Lin's Accidents -- 1
> 
> 4/18/2020 -- Slight correction made.


	5. An Angel was Landed on by Ichigo Sunada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo, at her lowest, finds a friend that comes from high places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the tamest chapter so far, thanks to originally being one chapter, now being split into two. Be prepared for a rather dialogue-intensive one without much sexy time. Don't worry. Our regularly scheduled Ichigo Humiliation Hour will resume soon, so just bare with me. Don't forget to comment and bookmark!

“Gnuuh…”

Ichigo groans awake. Given that she feels like Hell, she knows for certain the golden foxes haven’t called her home. She feels like her head is resting on something soft. It’s an almost… familiar feeling, one that dulls the headache within. No, not just dulling, though. She feels like its… inverting, replacing all the feeling of pain with comfort.

Healing.

“Umi…?” groans the injured princess, her vision still blurry. Her memories start to reform, she starts to remember what happened before she passed out. Something slammed her into the ground, and that something was… trying to eat her? Torture her? She knows of princesses like her getting captured and ransomed all the time, all around the world. Did Umi, Savanna, and the rest of the maids rescued her from such a situation…?

“H-huh? You? Me? My name?”

Ichigo’s vision clears up more, though not all the way without her glasses. The shape that is holding her… isn’t Umi. Not at all. Even without the corrective power of her eye-wear, Ichigo knows that none of the details are matching up. Umi’s face is weathered with age, smothered with warts, spots, and wrinkles, each one giving her the perfect grandmotherly look. This… not-Umi’s face was polished to a shine, the only blemish that she could even spot was a few dimples hidden by a rosy blush. Her gray, cotton hair was puffy, much like all the pillows that she fluffed up, but this person’s hair was almost golden, a ponytail popping up behind the back of their head. Not to mention, Umi was human. No beast bits, no godly blessings, no empowerments. She was a simple human, one that would take pride in her resolve to live in a world that did not cater to their lack of power.

This stranger had feathery wings, stretching wide, far, and away. The blinding white was only dulled by a blanket of putrid yellow covering the top of the both of them.

And this stranger was… holding her in their lap, pressing their palms onto her forehead…

Ichigo wishes her vision would stop clearing up now. It’s a good thing she doesn’t have her glasses on.

“Oh, my name is Kip! Kip Kipperson Jr.!” says the stranger with a pearly-white grin. Their voice is high-pitched, shrill, feminine, youthful, cheery. It has an almost infectious energy, almost one that could give Ichigo enough to rush out of here and away from her ransomner. “Though shouldn’t this be the other way around? Actually, that can wait! Neither of us should be speaking, gotta focus!”

The stranger named Kip tenses up and takes a strong sniff of the air. The light that surrounds the two of them becomes brighter as she in breathes in, as if her wings are the ones glowing, fighting the encroaching darkness that has entrapped them. As she does, Ichigo feels the headache completely dissipate. The soft hands caresses her temples vibrates with a healing power, each pulse soothing her ails. Ichigo’s foxy ears are delighted to listen to a soft, sweet hum come from the winged girl. A single, droning, sweet note. Whatever energy Ichigo was building up to dart out and escape is gradually disintegrating as well, her high-strung nerves slacking, her muscles loosening. Ichigo feels like she’s at peace, something she hasn’t felt all day…

She’s relaxing. Relaxing in a stranger’s lap.

‘ _This isn’t right._ ’ thinks Ichigo. Her paranoia begins to resurface. _‘She’s… she’s not my maids. She’s… She’s not even a ny’oni! I… I don’t know who or what she is! Why is she helping me? Does she knows who I am? What do I do?! What do I do!?’_ The urge to fight against the winged stranger’s comforting hands starts to overtake her as she rustles in her lap.

“H—hey! Hey! Easy! I’m not done yet!” says Kip, concerned. Her hands begin to slide off of Ichigo’s head, so she holds her by the princess’ jaw and top. “I’m new to this, I don’t want you re-opening that wound! You gonna start bleeding again!”

Ichigo stops her rustling when she hears that. Bleeding? She’s… bleeding? Ichigo eyes to her right a red stain on the strangers’ white skirt. The back of her head must have took some considerable damage upon impact. Ichigo has had plenty of scrapes and sprains, but she never seen so much of her own blood before. It’s… scary. Sickening. Stranger or not, Ichigo doesn’t want to see anymore of her own blood. Her threat was made clear as Ichigo forced herself to stay still and let the stranger heal her.

“Thank you. Now then, where were we…?”

The stranger breathes once more and hums her sweet tone. Ichigo can’t relax, her automatic thoughts cloud her mind more the longer this goes on. She wants to kick and swipe at the stranger, but she never been in a fight before. She doesn’t know what this girl can do, do to her. If she knows magic, who knows what else she can do. Or worse, if she has more people hiding in the shadows, other kidnappers waiting for her to make her move, try to make her escape. She wants to feel sick to her stomach, but the soothing power of Kip keeps her from feeling any sort of tension or illness.

She does feel sick she WANTS to be a nervous wreck for once. It’s impossible for her to be completely at ease, so anything approaching it should be treasured. Especially after failing her ceremony, getting lost, eating unknown berries, and…

Ichigo takes a whiff of the air. The smell of ammonia has pierced her nostrils, the sour smell of urine smacks her dead-on. She feels wet, wetter than she did earlier. Her own clothes have becomes a mix of yellow, brown, and red. Ichigo may not be able to feel easy or panicked right now, but she does feel gross and unhygienic. When she didn’t want to be a princess today, this… isn’t what she had in mind. The fact that anyone wants to touch any part of her is something that, while she can’t treasure, does at least feel like one victory in this long, long string of failures and mistakes that has been her life since she was born.

Actually… The stains on her dress matches almost exactly like the top of the stranger’s wings, that same putrid, greenish yellow. Ichigo takes a minute to process this, her face becoming as red as a cherry tomato under the smeared makeup and face paint. The… absolute shame keeps her paralyzed, the light in her eyes snuff themselves out. She can’t decide if throwing up on a boy’s shoes or doing… doing _**that**_ to a person is worse.

Death is starting to sound like a pleasure at this point.

“There, that should do it!” Kip says with a smile. “Glad you stayed still, I was worried you were going to start screaming and fighting. I can’t begin to imagine what you were going to do yourself if I wasn’t done.” Kip helps Ichigo to her knees, the girl babbling to herself the entire time. The winged healer wraps her arms around her, hugging her and patting her back. “I’m real sorry about the snare. I never expect to trap anything like a person in there! Gosh, forgive me!”

The girl may not be healing her anymore, but her soft voice and reassuring tone still have an easing effect on Ichigo. _‘Who is this woman? S-She’s so… so calm-_ _calm_ _ing… W-wh-_?’ Ichigo’s thoughts try to kick into overdrive, scared of the stranger’s out-of-nowhere PDA. But all they can do is stutter, babble like a babe. She doesn’t like people touching her, but she doesn’t being hurt. She doesn’t like people hating her, but she doesn’t like people pitying her. She doesn’t like being around strangers, but she doesn’t like being alone. She’s… confused, scared, embarrassed, horrified, so out-of-her-element, this hug included. And yet this hug is giving her so much… genuine compassion and sweetness, something she hasn’t had from someone she doesn’t know in so long, possibly ever. There’s no trace of anger or spite or displeasure, none of the emotions that had birthed the fear that forged all her barriers. It was all that was needed to move her baffled babbling into babyish bawling.

“Augh! Aughck! _**AWWWWWHUHUHUH!!**_ ” Tears stream down Kip’s back, her backless dress or the jacket over it doing nothing to guard her from the cold stream. Kip didn’t expect this, but she’s been into this kind of scenario before. She presses the chunky fox girl into her thin, waifish body deeper, caressing her back the entire time. The two stay like this for a good while, the forest echo with Ichigo’s cries and Kip’s soft hums for what feels like forever to the both of them. All this extra care only makes Ichigo cry some more, all adding into the fear, confusion, and much needed love that are swirling within her brain. Her eyes become red and swollen, the rest of her facepaint can’t withstand the damage and begins to flow down her face with the tears. Her nose runs with them, adding more grossness to her conflicting feelings. Everything adds up to a girl that cried until she could cry no more.

When the two finally disconnect, Ichigo looks much worse for wear, but feels so much better. Still, she can’t help but feel uneasy near the winged fellow. Not scared, but at least that she should keep her distance.

“Again, I’m really sorry. This is the least I can do, hurting people is _literally_ the opposite of my job, heheh…!” Kip says, looking embarrassed as she rubs the back of her head. “I really hope you weren’t swinging for long! I just been hearing rustling around these parts, so I thought the beasties started to finally hit this part of the spire! I couldn’t have imagine it could have been some ny’oni girl!”

Beasties? Beasts? Monsters?! O-oh dear. It appears that Ichigo’s paranoia was actually spot on! She shivers, holding herself tight. She begins to hyperventilate… but with Kip around, she doesn’t feel so scared. She’s certainly terrified, but for once, she feels like fainting isn’t the solution. Maybe because she...already twice in… one, two days? At this point, she lost track of time. Maybe she should ask when it is? What does she mean by monsters? Where is she? Who is her? Why did this happen? The more she thinks about it, the more questions Ichigo starts to have. And yet…

“Au… Augh…,” babbles the princess. Ichigo can’t speak a word. She can piece together her thoughts, but none reach her tongue.

“Eh?” says the winged one. Kip cocks her small head, the ponytail bouncing on her back. “Do you...need something, lady? You must have hit your head pretty hard... You can take your time, I won’t move a muscle!”

That’s kind of the issue. This… Kip may have been nothing but hospitable to her, but Kip’s still… well, a stranger. She’s never been the most verbose, but with total strangers, she can’t help but to panic. It’s why she was so scared to see the ship crew. She knew that her mind would focus so much on trying to say the right thing, trying to be a lady, trying not to embarrass herself, trying to not throw up again, trying to do everything all at once. Once all that starts, all her anxieties bubble up to the surface and she faints. With Kip, it’s only slightly different. Whatever she’s doing or done, its keeping all her anxieties at bay, or at least at neck-level. She doesn’t feel faint, but she does feel like she’s at a critical mass. It’s kind of like how her bladder felt earlier with Umi’s help. No matter how ready to burst it was, she can’t feel the worst of the agony.

Maybe Kip is related to her eldest maid? She should ask… one day. When she can speak to strangers.

“Are you… No, you can’t be mute. Not after all that yelling and crying,” ponders Kip. “Did you threw out your voice? Here, I think I have something for that!” Kip turns around and reaches into the darkness behind the two of them, dragging out a sack. It looks light, without much in it. She rustles through and takes out what looks to be a… rag?

“Open wide, okay, lady?” ask Kip, holding the cloth in one hand. Ichigo cocks her head in confusion. She’s not sure what the girl could be doing with it or how opening her mouth will “cure” her “thrown-out voice”. She tucks her head into her big bosom, nervous at what Kip will do to her. “Please, lady. I promise, it’s going to taste great!” begs the winged girl with puppy-eyes. “Say, ahhhhhhhhhh!”

“Ah…,” squeaks out Ichigo. She leaves her mouth open, only for Kip to tilt her chin up. She then wrings out the rag, enough for a blue liquid to begin leaking out of it. It drizzles down into Ichigo’s mouth, the cold, sweet secretion slicks down her throat. It’s even sweeter than the berries she ate earlier! Sweeter than honey, even! “Mmm~!” Ichigo can’t help but to emit a delighted cheer. She feels a tad energized, revitalized even! It’s nothing she ever had before!

“That’s Evergrace for you!” cheers Kip. “Courtesy of the benevolents!” She flaps her wings, enough to make her wings known to Ichigo. She pounds on her flat chest and gives a wink to the puzzled princess. “This cloth can make an endless supply of the stuff, it takes it out of the aethe—err, the mist, that’s what it’s called. Sorry, still gotta get used to being grounded.”

Ichigo’s eyes squint. She understood basically nothing of what the girl just rapid-fired at her. The headache is starting to come back.

“…Let me… try that again,” chuckles the rosy caretaker. “Uh…. Cloth is wet, wet forever. Makes really, really good water! Should help your throat. _Sighs._ Man, I’m speaking a lot today. Hope I don’t get in trouble for it...” Kip shoves the rag and sucks on it, letting the “water” slick down. She takes it out and resumes, “Can you at least tell me your name? That’s all I really would like.”

Ichigo sits quiet. She dwells on the thought for a long while. Kip keeps sucking on the rag as she waits, offering another squeeze out of it. She accepts some more times, each hit of it bringing solace to the princess, making her lips just a bit looser. ‘ _She’s really patient_ ,’ thinks Ichigo. ‘ _I expect_ _ed_ _her to be mad_ _for being so quiet._ ’ The two of them stay like this for a few minutes, letting the night air pass them by. No sudden movements. Nothing that would cause either of them to panic. No words. This continues until Kip breaks out a yawn, the light coming off of her wings fade for a slight bit. Ichigo gets startled by it, finally realizing that its her wings that have been fighting against the darkness.

“ _Yyaaaaawwnnn!”_ Kip stretches out her arms over her head, each one looking like twigs in comparison to Ichigo’s. “Sorry, its been a long day for me. I’m a fan of quiet time, but even I have my limits. Listen, its fine, I don’t really need your name. I just don’t think I should be calling you ‘Lady’ all the time. You are in your right to withhold that informa--”

“I… Ic…,” stutters Ichigo. Kip gets excited, the light from her feathery wings illuminates brighter. It’s like looking at a toddler utter her first words. “P-pr… Ich…” Ichigo strains herself. She really does want to say her name. But years of fear, self-loathing, anxiety, and disappointments have erected so many barriers in her mind. It’s like a demon keeps choking her, garroting her every time she wants to speak.

“Ick? Pitch? Pritch? Itchy?”  
“I-Ichi...”  
“Iiiicchhiiii…? Are you actually itchy? Gosh, how long you’ve been in that thing!? When the last you’ve bathed?!”

Ichigo blushes once more, shielding her face this time. Another one of her nightmares have come to life, a tragic misunderstanding regarding her name. Princess Itchy Sunada, lady of the scratch. Given her racial features, it was only a matter of time before someone thinks she’s flea-bitten. Though, its not TOO much of a disaster. Honestly, its a little funny, this random person asking a princess when the last she bathed. Not enough to laugh, but enough to not freak out, to realize that the world has ended cause someone thinks she needs a scritch behind the ears or two.

One from Savanna would be great right now.

“Err… sorry. That was uncouth,” apologizes Kip. “But we really should get you out of that… dress? Robe? Thingy? Well, whatever it _was_ , I think you might want to get it and yourself bathed.” She stands up for the first time since Ichigo woke up, showcasing the rather curvy thighs that her head once rested on. “Come on! I know the perfect place to bathe in this quarter! Should be perfect!”

Kip grabs Ichigo by her hand and heaves her onto her furry feet. Ichigo is so stunned, she can’t think of an objection. She would like a bath, even without her maids to scrub her down. Leading her on their way, Kip navigates through the darkness, the duo managing to avoid any danger lurking within. Ichigo hobbles along, trying to make sure she doesn’t put too much weight on her sore ankle and making sure that the flighty gal isn’t leading her into a trap, at least an intentional one this time. The whole time, though, she never lets go of her hand.

A short while later, what has to feel like 10 minutes of walking, the two reach their destination: a clearing from the forest, a gaping hole in the canopy above. A lake perched in the middle is shimmering in the great moonlight that has pierced through. The waxing moon let’s Ichigo know that wherever she is, she’s at least still on Pent. This fact, combined with Kip’s loving grip, the quiet moonlight, and the beautiful vista, finally brings a smile of awe to Ichigo’s face. After this trying day, she feels like she deserves this small pleasure.

“A real beaut, right?” asks Kip, begging the girl to share in her awe.

Ichigo takes a moment to realize what’s been asked and proceeds to nod over and over again. If she could move all of this into her personal bathroom, she would. She rushes towards the lake, taking care to not trip over anything and stares into the pond water. She sees the monster in the reflection, a disgusting beast more scared of itself than she is. Without a second thought, she dunks her head into the water and begins to scrub her cheeks with her hands. The water was surprisingly warm, almost hot, as if the pond really was part of her bathroom! By the time she rises back out, most of the makeup Alba painstakingly spent putting on ran off her face. Her wiry whiskers were free, her freckles and pores can breathe, her lips no longer taste like cherry and balm.

She can see Ichigo Sunada in the reflection once more. The scared babe lost alone in the woods.

She does need to squint to see her, though…

“Great, isn’t it?!” says Kip, startling the girl! Ichigo nearly slips into the water face-first, saved only by some wild arm-flailing and butt-wiggling. “Hehehe, sorry for that. Geez, now that I can get a good look at your face, you’re a cutey, you know that, lady?”

Ichigo’s lips may no longer be cherry-red, but her face certainly is. This stranger called her cute. Not fat, not greasy, not a mutt. But _cute!_ She can feel the cogs in her head begin to grind against each other, the steam starting to leak out her fox ears. She tucks her head into herself once more, shielding her eyes away from the flirty winged girl.

“Aww, you are just precious! ...Hmm, good look… Hey, that reminds me,” Kip realizes, rustling through a pocket in her light jacket, white like the wings on her back supposed to be. She takes out a pair of glasses, just like Ichigo’s! “Are these yours? I bet you’d look even cuter with ‘em on! Come on, lady!” Kip smiles, excited to see what the chubby girl with twin-tails would look like with a pair of wire-thin, wide-eyed glasses on.

Ichigo can’t really say no. Her nearsightedness is great, borderline astigmatism. It’s been getting worse year-after-year, ever since she was four. She can barely see a foot or two ahead of her at this point in her life. While she doesn’t appreciate being treated like eye-candy, she does want to see more than not be embarrassed. She takes her glasses from Kip and slowly puts them on, making sure the bridge sits snug on her nose and the pins on the arms are pushed into the sides of her head tight. Pushing them in always make her wince, making her wish her ears were on the side of her like Umi’s…

“Oooo~! I knew it!” swoons Kip, her wings flapping happy to see a girl with glasses. “I never get to see this back home!”

Ichigo would resume shielding her face in embarrassment were it not for her curiosity being piqued. Now that she can get a good look at the stranger, she sees some extra odds and ends she couldn’t see previously, like the girl’s black lipstick, the three odd silver piercings that adorn the front of her neck, or the girl’s hairless arms and legs. She sees the white jacket have her named sown on the right side, “Kip Kipperson Jr.” in a flowy cursive font, along with what appears to be half a red heart on the left. Ichigo notices that the back of the jacket hangs low, as its unzipped, letting the girl’s wing be free. She never seen anyone wear so much white, much less as some weird uniform.

Not to mention, outside the skirt, Ichigo would hardly call such an outfit “feminine”.

“Alright then, let’s get ready for bath time!” shouts Kip, breaking past the silent of the night. “If my wings ever run into ‘that’ kind of situation ever again, may my Lords chop them off of me and bless me with new ones! Hehehe!!” Kip throws off the jacket in a smooth motion, highlighting the years of practice wearing such a jacket with such prodigious wings behind her. The undershirt isn’t far behind her, showing Ichigo just how flat her chest is. It lacks any kind of muscle definition or flab, a tummy free from all faults and blemishes. Not even navel exists, unlike Ichigo’s outie. The back is another story, as a black scar in the shape of a hole lies in the girl’s left shoulder blade. Else, its as flawless as her stomach. It’s almost mesmerizing for Ichigo, she never seen a body so thin, so perfect.

What snaps Ichigo out her trance was seeing Kip toss aside her skirt, her skintight skivvies be in view.

As well as the bulge that lies in the middle.

“B-b-b-b-b---!” sputters Ichigo, the blush on her face clear to Kip as “she” grips “her” underwear. “She” cocks her head, unready to hear the girl talk for the first time since the two met.

“BOY!!” shouts Ichigo, her whiny voice echoes throughout the forest. She panics and begins to run away, tripping over her own furry feet and landing face-first into a bush behind herself. She finds herself stuck, her wide derriere and twin-tails open to the boy’s confused gaze.

Kip stares for a good while at the cowering girl, her tail-end waggling in the night. His mouth is agape, his head so confused at the situation he finds himself in right before his much-needed bath. “O-oh gosh!” he shouts, realizing his dire faux-pas. “I-I forgot you groundlings don’t share baths, I-I’m so sorry! It’s been so long since I had to speak with you all, I totally forgot all my etiquette training and--”

No amount of justifications will help remove the image that has been burnt into the littlest Sunada’s eyes. The one time she ever had to deal with a boy, he left covered in her brunch! Ever since then, Ichigo could never hope to speak to the opposite sex, another mental block in her wellspring of social insecurities. Boys shoot her anxiety straight through the roof. Meeting one like this, after mistaking him as a her all this time?

_**“H-HURK!!”** _

It shoots straight out of her mouth. At least this time, there was no boy in front her.

“Oh-oh my go-gosh! Uh-uhh! Hang on!” panics Kip. He takes to the sky above the lake, his wings sparkling in the night. He flies to the east of the lake, far away from Ichigo, giving the two much needed privacy. “O-okay, lady!! I’m gone now!!”

Ichigo stops shivering in the bush. It takes it slow out the bush, making sure to leave the mess inside the bush and that the winged _boy_ was out of sight.

“Y-you can take a bath first, lady! I promise not to watch, okay!” shouts Kip in the distance.

This doesn’t really bring any ease to Ichigo. In fact, now that he’s gone, she starting to shake more and more. She’s as confused as she is horrified at her mannerisms. She certainly doesn’t want to see a naked boy, but some part of her would have… appreciated the company in bathing. It’s rare for her to take a bath by her lonesome, especially at night. It was always nice to talk with Daisy about the events of the day, learning about how the other maids run her ragged or how the island bakery tried to stiff out with cheap goods again. She knew how to scrub her back with just enough roughness and tenderness. She always listened to Ichigo’s own ails with her maids, like Alba pestering her for another tea party, Umi lecturing her about being klutzy, Lin speaking to herself in a scary voice, or Savanna being too harsh on the other maids, all without judgment. It was always nice to have her to talk to, or anybody really.

She doesn’t know when or where she is, but she does know she misses all her maids, dearly so.

“I should have left some soap there! Just check my bag!”

Kip’s right, he did left some soap and a rag just outside of his bag when he darted away. As well as all his clothes.

‘ _Dangit! He has to come back! Like that!_ ’ Ichigo’s mind fears. She doesn’t have time to mope about, she needs to get her bath now and get back in that bush… another bush before Kip comes back “like that”. She struggles to get out of the scraps of her dress robes, scared of ruining what remains. But with her mind in overdrive, her caution is quickly thrown out the window, much like her garbs when she bites down and tears what remains to shreds! ‘ _Good riddance!_ ’ She’s happy to be free, only left in her glasses, poofy pants, white bra, and pee-soaked, heart-stamped panties, all of which are quickly tossed aside. She cannonballs into the lake, letting the borderline hot water caress her ever crevice. She lost track of the time hours ago, but it doesn’t erase just how MUCH she needed something like this. She can feel her most of her stress melt away, the rest are quickly brushed and scrubbed off her.

With a slightly emptier stomach (most of what she threw up was just spit-up, fortunately), some slightly unwelcome company, and a slightly cleaner body, Ichigo now has the time to think about what, where, and why she is even here, scrubbing her body in a lake that’s way too warm to be natural. She tries to keep her mind on bathing, making sure she doesn’t forget to wipe down everywhere. Given how big she is, it’s a little easy for her to miss places like under her plump breasts or heavy rump on the rare occasions when she has to bathe herself. Still, she can’t keep her mind from wandering.

The princess becomes lost in thought, wondering about the events that happened. One of her sisters, Ringo? No, Momo did something that stopped Umi’s spell, she said she dispelled it. And that made her bladder explode right there, now that there was nothing that could stop the floodwaters. She had enough strength to walk up to the orb and try to sing the Queen’s Oratorio, but once she did that, she felt like both her continence and her willpower give out. But that isn’t true! She tried to urinate on her own power, her maids were in trouble. She was a dead girl, anyway, dying of embarrassment and shame, so she could at least take the heat off of them. But… she couldn’t. It felt like her bladder was held hostage, as if she her mind and body weren’t on the same page. She couldn’t release the grip, as if her body wanted her maids to get hurt just to protect her from the shame of peeing on stage with thousands of people watching. Does it mean… her being here is some kind of punishment? For being selfish and unwilling to do the deed when she needed to? Are all her maids… dead? Because of her…?

Ichigo stops scrubbing. She begins to sink below the water, much like her self-image. She’s an awful princess, an awful person. If being here is a punishment, than she deserves it…

...No. No! She tried! She tried to save her, much like Savanna tried to save her and get her off the stage! It’s not her fault she couldn’t let go, right? Both Umi and Momo did something to her bladder, Umi more-so, to be honest. Not that it is her fault either, she said she wasn’t sure how effective it could work. She tried her best much like her. In fact, someone liked her trying. She heard a voice say something like “I like your rebellion” in her head, so someone had to appreciate her effort!

Actually, who was that voice? It can’t be Kip, it was a deep, dark voice. It was… another man’s, not the orator’s. Or anyone should knows. Could it been her father? She never really knew him, only hearing about his “deeds” that led her creation in old newspapers. All of them censored out his name and face, almost as if fate itself didn’t want her to know who he was. Maybe to protect her, maybe to protect him from knowing the shame of a daughter he made with Queen Anzu. A mutt with twin-tails, that pees herself twice in what-has-to-be-one-day, scared of a boy seeing her naked, and failed her coming-of-age ceremony…

“ _Sigh_.” All this thinking is starting to get to Ichigo. She sinks even deeper, letting the water become nose-level with her. Even near the edge, she has to tread water to not completely sink in and drown. And she’s starting to wonder if she should…

_Pffyburptplurbtplubrt!_

Seems like thinking isn’t the only thing getting to Ichigo. A good deal of gas escapes her backside underwater, the shock of which rockets her back to the surface. She guesses all the running, that cold Evergrace, as well as the warm water, probably jump-started her stomach once again, if only for a short bit. It’s a good reminder that she probably go do… that, sometime soon. After clearing the air, she takes a good sniff of herself. Looks like the soap did its job, she no longer smells of ammonia and dirt. She doesn’t feel completely pure, given the sudden “back blast” she just erupted, but she definitely feels much cleaner.

She does one more brainstorming session before she gets out her bath. If that voice wasn’t her father, than who was that man? Did he have something to do with bringing her to the spire? What happened to her when she blacked out? Where is she? Where is her maids?

“Hey, lady!! Are you done yet?!”

And who is Kip? Why does he have wings? Why does he look so slim and petite, yet is a boy? How is he here, why just them two? Why does it sound like he isn’t of Pent, where does he come from? What kind of place doesn’t know that men and women can’t be stripping down in front each other?!

“Uhm!” shouts Ichigo in the distance. Without the gaze of Kip, she feels more comfortable with talking at a distance, if with massive stuttering. “C-c-can you… can you wa-wait a bit?!”

“Oh, you can speak!! You have a lovely voice! Sure, lady!!”

Hey, that was something akin to a conversation! With a stranger, no less! With a boy stranger! That’s a great achievement for the crown princess! Could something be in the water that could have helped her open up?

**Pbbftpt!**

‘ _N-not in that way! Dangit, stomach,”_ reprimands Ichigo to her guts. She would like to use the extra time to see if whatever blockage she had earlier has passed so she can, but given how badly letting loose like that is sticking up the surrounding area, she rather not take the chance. She fans her arms and tails, both to dry off and clear out the area. It looks like Kip didn’t left a towel with her, which is rather infuriating for the girl, almost as horrifying as seeing him strip bare. She can’t just stand around with her pudgy body, though. All she can do is just get her stuff on and hope that they dry off on their own.

“Y-you can c-c-c-c…!!” stutters the under-dressed princess, her pants and bra on. She doesn’t trust her panties at the moment, even if they weren’t twice-stained with her fluids. Her rear is still fairly wet, her tails still drooping. She doesn’t think wearing them will do her any good, at least until either she or they dry out (and they get washed first, of course). But more concerning than the status of her clothes is the fear of the boy coming back to her. Ichigo can’t really bare to see him, bare or otherwise. She would rather have a conservation like this, far apart, separated by the trees.

“Coming~!” singsongs Kip. Despite the stuttering, he manages to hear her just fine, antsy to listen in. His sparkling radiance appears in the sky once more, bringsingsomee much needed light to the dark woods, and some much unneeded anxiety to Ichigo. He quickly lands back down, Ichigo taking what little time she had to shield her eyes and guard what remained of her innocence.

“Don’t worry! I’m dressed!” says Kip, trying to reassure the girl.

This… confused Ichigo. She opens up one eye, seeing that yes, Kip is dressed. A sheer cloak is over him, one that cover him head-to-toe. Where did he got the extra clothes? Did he even bathe?

“Again, I’m REAL sorry ‘bout that. I honestly did forgot, I’ve been here for a good while without much company.”  
“Oo-o-ok…”  
“Hey, you’re speaking more! Your throat feeling better?”

Ichigo nods, even if its more of a half-truth. Nothing was wrong with it before, but she can’t deny it does feel more refreshed. In fact, now that Kip’s back (and dressed), she’s starting to feel a little more comfortable. Something about him really does bring her a sense of ease, even if its just countering the fact he’s a he and not a she.

“That’s good, real good!” Kip tries to place a hand on Ichigo’s shoulder, but she backs off in fear. Kip looks disappointed. “Again, I just want you to know that I don’t mean to do you any harm or panic. I don’t know much about you, but I can already tell you have a good deal of issues. Please don’t let me be one of them!”

Ichigo doesn’t know how to respond to his plea. She doesn’t want to make him an issue, but his very nature is already one. It really just shows how poor of a ny’oni being Ichigo really is. The only thing she can think of to do is solemnly nod her head.

“Thank you, thank you, I really mean it,” Kip says in relief. “Uhm, if my form is a problem for you, I can keep on my casual fatigues, if that’s will be okay for you? I guess you don’t like me looking like a boy, huh?”  
“N-no…”  
“Ow, ow, it’s fine. I just… don’t really know how to look female outside of dressing it. I know some of the higher rank benevolents can but--”

Ichigo tilts her head again.

“Have you… never met a benevolent before?”

Ichigo shakes her head. All she knows about the races of Pent are pureblooded ny’oni, mutt ny’oni, and humans. She never heard anything about “benevolents”.

“Wow! Not even as a child? I know we are pretty secretive, but I thought your grounders heard about the legends or myths abo-- oh, gosh! I’m d-- silly! Does “angels” ring-a-bell?”

Ichigo is starting to feel information-overloaded at this point. The headache is starting to come back, and her cooling, wet body isn’t helping. Still, she tries to think about if and where she heard about “angels”. She remembers an old tome, one left open in Umi’s room. She has plenty of books of mystical creatures and items, all important parts of her studying and prayer. She said, back when she was young, that once Ichigo became of age, she’d start teaching her about the mist and the products of such. Even still, a bookworm like Ichigo can’t help but sate her curiosity and read what she found: a book of psychopomps.

“Am I dead?!” screams Ichigo, her panic skyrocketing once more. Angels, according to the tome, are spiritual beings, envoys of the celestial gods, that take good-natured souls to the heavens to be judged by them. Things are starting to add up, no one but her and Kip being here, the blood loss, the weird feelings. She really did died of embarra--

“Nononono! You are alive and well! Alive and well!” says Kip, trying to calm down the hyperventilating girl. “Breathe, breathe with me!” Kip sucks in and exhales air through his teeth, his wings dimming and brightening with each passing breath. Soon Ichigo starts to breathe in sync with him, the fluctuating lights almost hypnotizing her. Her panic, her fear, her delusions all begin to fade away with each pass. She begins to feel woozy, but one from a sensation of peace and tranquility, instead of a lack of air and blood pressure. She sits down onto the ground, her wet butt _squelching_ on the ground. But with how oddly calm she feels around the angel, she doesn’t even mind.

“Good, gooooood…” Kip says, tending to Ichigo. “Gosh, lady. You could stand to take it easy more. You aren’t dead, I promise. Honestly, you might be better off in the heavens than where we are.”

Ichigo, still dazed, asks “W-where are we, then?”  
“A floating spire, forged by a wizard long ago. At least that’s what I was told.”  
“A-a spire?”

“It’s more of a floating, upside-down pyramid with 4 other upside-down pyramids chained to it than a spire. I don’t know who or why they call it a spire, its pretty d—, silly. Silly misnomers aside, I was sent here to investigate it a couple of weeks back.”  
“A couple of… H-have I… been out of that long?”  
“I wouldn’t say that. Seems like you just got here. I’ve been keeping track of this area for a good while, and I haven’t seen or sense you all this time.”  
‘ _So it has to be the same day,_ ’ thinks Ichigo. She’s glad that is one mystery solved.  
“Actually, I wanted to ask. How did you got here?”  
“H-huh?”  
“It’s REALLY tough to get into this place. There’s so many wards in place, its practically invisible. It took the combined efforts of my superiors to even slip me past here, and the wards already got strengthen almost immediately. At least, that’s what had to have happen. I haven’t heard from them since.”  
“O-oh…” ‘ _You must have been really lonely,_ ’ Ichigo solemnly thinks. Not everyone is like her, a couple of weeks isolated would probably kill a person, she’d believe. Just like how a couple of hours with a whole bunch of people would end her.  
“It’s cool! There’s plenty of animals on the other isles and floors, from what I’ve seen.” Kip rustles Ichigo’s hair, stopping when she holds his arm away from her. “S-sorry. No touching there, got it, now.”  
Ichigo nods fiercely. She only lets Savanna do that. She has enough of a light, but firm touch to make it feel _reaaaaallly_ nice, especially when she scratches behind her black ear.  
“Yeah, doubly got it. _Ahem._ Anyway, I am glad to meet you, lady. Though I wish it could have been a little less… violently. Do you need any more help, while I am here? Anything else is wrong?”

Ichigo thinks it over. Her ankle does still feel a little raw. Her stomach still feels tight and full, even with her… breaking wind. She’s still wet. She could use some more clothes. The clothes she does still have could be washed. And she’s starting to feel just a tad bit peckish. What isn’t wrong with her...?

“I… feel wet?” Ichigo says, unsure of what issue she wants fixed first. She regrets almost immediately, especially in the light of what happened earlier. How can Kip fix that?

“Did you p-- wait, no,” Kip says, admonishing himself. ‘ _Don’t need to give the lass anymore heartache_.’ “You don’t have a towel? Well, don’t worry, I got you covered. I don’t remembered where I learned this, but I think I got just what you need.” Kip raises and opens both of his palms, taking a deep breathe. He speaks in a quiet tone, almost inaudible. She did managed to catch the last line.

“… Sun’s blazing rays – **[** **Heat Wave]** …!”

A blast of hot air expels from both of Kip’s palms, towards Ichigo. She feels warm immediately, her damp body and fur soon drying out. It’s a great feeling, like a hot comb brushing through her entire body. Her clothes join in the fun, no longer being saturated by Ichigo’s wet body or her previous fluids.

“T-thank you!” cheers Ichigo! This is the loudest she’s been with the lad, she wonders why.

“No problemo! That’s normally meant to be an attacking spell, so I’m glad I pulled it off this right!” Kip pumps his arms, satisfied with his work. His wings are rather dim after that, like the light from within are drained. He notices that the surrounding area is no longer as illuminated as before. “Ah, guess I overdid it today. Least I didn’t hurt myself.”  
“O-oh? You-you-you are okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got to take it easy with the spells for the rest of the night. More worried about you at the moment.”  
“W-why?”  
“Well, its my job to care! Especially after catching you in that snare trap! And you look like you could use a lot. Liiiikkkkkeeee… sleeping! You need somewhere to sleep! Give me a moment!”

Kip rustles through his bag and takes out what appears to be a small pellet. He takes a breath, flies up a short distance and slams it into the ground! A large cloud of blue mist poofs around the duo, only for a modern-looking tent with a sleeping bag to appear where Kip once stood. Kip descends with a graceful three-point landing, wiping his nose all the same.

“Taadaa~!” Kip sings. “It’s got room for one lady, ready for her majesty!  
“H-how’d did you knew I was a p-p-princess?” Ichigo begins to shudder once more.  
“H-huh? You’re a what?”  
“Nevermind, nevermind!” Ichigo thrusts herself into the tent, zipping it up behind herself… and catching the tip of one of her tails. “YIP!” She tugs it back in, straining herself.  
“Ooookaaayyy…” Kip scratches his head, but soon shrugs the silly scene of the scrambling sister off. “You enjoy that tent, okay, lady!”

  
With a wall of beige tarp between them, Ichigo feels more comfortable with talking more directly to the boy with the white wings. “A-are you sure? It’s your tent, isn’t it?”  
“It really is no problemo, I’ll be fine. I can even keep watch, okay?”  
“O-okay…! Please stay safe, Mr. Kipperson.”  
“Please, just call me Kip. You only making me blush talking like that.”  
“O-okay, Mr. Kip.”

Kip rolls his eyes and grins, a blush appearing on his face, like he said it would. “You get some rest, alright? I have a lot of questions, but they can wait for the morning. Good night, lady!”  
“G-good ni—wait! Wait!”  
“Huh?”  
“My name…” Ichigo gulps, her chest feels tight as she says this. “M-my name is… Ichigo…”  
“Ichigo, huh? That’s a nice name! I promise not to forget! Alright then, good night!”

Kip flies off into the night sky, leaving Ichigo alone in the dark tent. She exhales, no longer being stressed. Somehow, she managed to get through talking with a boy while only throwing up in a bush. She’s clean, she’s dry, and while her ankle still hurts a little, she thinks she just need to sleep it off in this tent he provided. Kip did all of this, as if he was another one of his maids, all because she got caught in one his traps. It does beg several questions, like what he was hoping to catch in there to begin with, or why he’s been so nice, or how he can calm her down just as good, if not better than her maids can?

As Ichigo ponders this, she breaks out a yawn. It’s been a long evening. Like Kip, she has a lot of questions, all of which can wait ‘til the morning. She’s been tired for quite a while, just about when Kip did… something to her that stopped her panic attack. Nobody can blame her for snuggling into the thick, padded, heavy sleeping bag, taking off her glasses, wiggling enough to get comfy, and almost instantly falling into a deep sleep…

♥♥♥

**PBFPT-Fwiiiip!!**

Almost… Her stomach still feels tight and heavy, it doesn’t like being slept on at the moment. The stench of that last blast actually makes her eyes water, especially for turning the sleeping bag into an impromptu gas chamber. She unzips the tent to let out some air, starting to wonder if she should go out and try to do her business again. But without Kip, without the sun, all she has is the light of the moon. It’s dark all around, and she doesn’t feel lucky enough to escort herself. All she can hope to do is massage her ailing stomach enough that it will let her sleep, make sure she doesn’t fall asleep on it again, and hope that the gods doesn’t force her hand… and her butt.

It’s been a long day for Ichigo. It’s going to be a long night. She hopes that tomorrow isn’t any longer.

♥♥♥


	6. Misty-Eyed Ichigo Sunada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo can always afford to learn something new! Like magic! Or what's a "laxative effect" means...!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the delay, needed a bit of a break to recompose myself as well as give me time to port Ichigo Sunada all the way to DeviantArt! I'll post status updates and some sneak peeks at my progress over there, so be sure to follow! Check me out!
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/plusparsnips
> 
> But enough about me, prepare for a pretty intense and dialogue-heavy chapter! See you soon!

Ichigo finds herself in a dark void. It’s suffocating. Moving is difficult, if not impossible. She feels tied down in the darkness, as if something is holding her hostage.

It isn’t long for her to be proven right as demons crawl out into view, beings formed from the dark itself. Their forms are incomprehensible, indescribable. Shadows hide their body, their yellow eyes and white claws are the only things Ichigo can begin to properly detect and fear. They claw all over her body, stripping the few scraps of clothes she has on her, holding down her arms, her legs, her belly, her head. They begin to whisper, all sounding like her maids. “Stay with us. Play with us. Die with us.” Over and over again. Ichigo screams, but her voice gives off no sound in this void.

“Stay with us.”

Soon a blue light begins to pierce through the darkness as an orb begins seep into view. Demons are pulling it out from nowhere, heaving it into view. It’s blue and sparkling, similar to the orb she saw at her ceremony. But it also pulsating with energy, vibrating and emitting bolts of blue lightning all around it. The demons that surround it pay no mind, the volts passing through them. They kneel around it, all smiling as they await their charge.

“Play with us.”

The demons holding Ichigo slowly drag her towards. She tries to thrash, bash, trash the demons that are holding her. But they are strong, mighty. And she is weak, feeble. They fool around with her, letting an arm or a leg go so they can grab it twice as hard, grab even more of her. They begin to become crass, headstrong, grabbing onto her crotch and ass, caressing and scratching each part. Each nail that drags across her skin and fur make her feel hot, heavy, horrible, heated.

“STOP IT! STOP!” she tries to say, her voice sounding muffled in her own ears. The demons only continue to smile, their forms begin to come more clear. Some of them make their forms more clear. They show their white fangs, they all have great ears that flop against the “floor” of the void. Some have long tails with furry ends, that lasso around Ichigo’s entire body. Some have toned bodies that make it easier to stretch her out, pin her down, even slap her cheeks. The many with curly hair stand aside, all speaking in tongues, chanting things Ichigo could never understand. The words are booming, rattling her body, inside and out. The demons with wide hips make up a crowd, forming a path between her, the orb, and all the demons that are molesting her, all wanting a piece of her. They squeeze in tight, making sure that they can grab a hold as they force her to walk the walkway of pain.

All these sensations are doing her no good, she feels herself filling up with panic. She’s dizzy, weakened in many regards. Her lady bits feel hot and steamy, her butt stings. Her gut feels battered and bruised, her breasts sting. Every time the demons make her take another step, every time the demons scratch and “play” with her, the feelings get worse and worse. Her body feels so heavy, almost waterlogged. There is no end to this torture, she doesn’t know how long this has been going on! She’s losing her mind!!

The demons finally had their fun and dragged her to the orb. All this time, it has only been getting more and more energized, the light becoming almost blinding. Without the demons holding her, there’s no way that Ichigo could even stand by it, she feels like she would be pushed far, far away. The demons that have a hold on her place her hands onto the orb. The orb becomes supercharged right at that moment, pulsing all that energy straight into Ichigo’s body. Everything she was feeling prior becomes overwhelming, she doesn’t know how to describe it! Painful!? Agonizing?! Powerful?! Pleasurable?! Nothing makes sense to Ichigo, she only wants to go home! She only wants to die!

“Die with us.”

Ichigo’s eyes begin to roll back in her head. Nothing about her body feels real in this craziness. The only thing that does is the orb that is cracking within her hands, the power it holds flowing straight into her. And the large demon that has formed behind her, a fusion of every demon that has been holding onto her. She holds onto Ichigo and the orb, wrapping her large ears and pressing her into her great mass. She feels the power flow within her even more as she sinks deeper and deeper into bountiful demon.

“Die with me, Ichigo Sunada. We can live and die… together. Forever.”

The orb bursts in both their hands, the blinding light consuming the both of them.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!”

“ _ **F O R E V E R**_ ”

“AHHH!!” Ichigo awakens in the tent. It’s barely the crack of dawn, light hasn’t even seeped through the windows yet. She’s wrapped in the sleeping bag, Kip’s sleeping bag. She slept terribly, barely recovering from yesterday’s ordeals. All her midnight furling and thrashing drained whatever energy she would have regained over the course of a midnight sleep. She’s drenched in sweat, the nightmare still engraved in her mind. But that thought quickly fades as she realizes that sweat and terror isn’t the only things she’s feeling.

She feels wet.

She feels really wet.

Her butt and crotch within the sleeping bag feels REALLY wet.

Ichigo must be losing her marbles. In the past two or so days, she has peed herself four times. Four! Is this some sort of divine punishment for failing her coming-of-age ceremony?! Because she’s not an adult, she has to be stuck as a child?! Even less than one, she hasn’t wet the bed in years! Years! She feels like she has no control of her life! Hell, it doesn’t even smell like her urine, this is far more sweeter and pungent than anything she’s done since! And yet its under her butt, completely stained her pants, soaking her sleeping bag! Oh gods, its not even HER sleeping bag! She can’t even control herself in other people’s beds, this is insanity!

Kip will be back soon, maybe even this very minute! Ichigo has to get this stuff cleaned, and quick! The first thing she has to do is get this cleaned, no! Have to move the sleeping bag out of here! The crime scene is starting to burn her eyes with the sweet and sour smell of urine! Ichigo rolls up the sleeping bag, feeling her sticky mess squelch between her furry fingers. She shivers, feeling how uncomfortably warm it is. On the brighter side, the stains are light like water, not green. She wonders if she had a little too much of that evergrace, or ended up sipping too much of the pond water. But she can worry about that later, she needs to get moving!

She slips out the tent, bag in hand, still worried about the angel boy descending down from the sky, laughing and mocking her for her indecency. Being unable to control her bladder in the middle of the night! It’s not her fault, she’s not a bed-wetter! It’s been years since the last time she’s done that, her bed always been mostly clean (she could always afford to eat less chocolate in bed)! She’s stressed out, the night is too dark for her, he’s the one that said there’s monsters in this spire, she suffered a nightmare! There’s a plethora of excuses she could use to justify herself, but she doesn’t have to if she can just get this sleeping bag clean!

‘ _Wash, wash, wash! Wash out, please!’_

Ichigo’s thoughts spiral into madness. She doesn’t know where to begin in washing something like this! Her clothes are light, fluffy, easy to handle for a princess that never had to wash her own clothes! But this sleeping bag is heavy, padded, made out of a material she’s seen very little of, if at all! It’s somehow silky, yet heavy! It just bounces the water off, repelling any attempts to sink it in, making it difficult for her to know if its clean and her “markings” are out or not. All she can do is sniff it, wash it, and pray that he’ll never know!

She does this until the sun begins to rise above the horizon. She doesn’t know if she got it all, but she managed to manufacture enough of a story about it getting wet, he can’t tell the difference. Exhausted, she tosses the bag to the side and sits down on her rump.

_Squelch!_

‘Dangit, dangit!’ Ichigo thoughts scream, kicking back into high gear instantly. Her clothes, those are still obviously stained! How did it took her this long to realize that!? Her misdemeanor, no, a _felony_ for a princess like her is sticking to her thighs and belly and pelvis like glue! She needs to clean her clothes again, else she will be caught red-handed! Piss-handed, really! She has to strip, strip now!

‘ _WASH WASH WASH WASH!!’_

Just because its light, doesn’t mean it doesn’t stain. Ichigo thought her clothes were easy to deal with, but that’s because she still had Kip’s soap. All she has is the raw water of the lake and whatever weird properties that makes it perpetually warm. And its ineffectual in removing any stain, much less a far more pronounced, giant, wet, spiral splotches covering both the fronts and backs. The panties aren’t too much of an issue, they’ve been abused a lot over the past day or two. She shouldn’t have put them back on anyway, walking about in commando is bad, but sleeping… is also scorn-worthy, but not easy to know unless she blabs about it. But sometimes it just feels nice to sleep without your underwear riding up your fat butt or having to worry about _**urinating in them in the middle of the night**_ **.** ARGH!

She can at least blame her previous accidents on them, not that she would ever want to give those traumatizing moments any more brain space. But its harder to prove the same with her light, poofy pants! The previous stains are in long stripes, from how she was hanged by that _boy!_ Even the large blotch on it from when she first arrived have mostly worn out its welcome (not that it ever was in the first place!), starting to fade out on its own. At least fade out enough that anyone with half-a-brain could tell the difference between an accident made yesterday and an accident made over the course of a night!

Even the bra is can be used as evidence! The edges of the very bottom is slightly wet. ‘ _Why does my breasts have to hang so low when I’m asleep!?’_ whines Ichigo’s brain! ‘ _Dangit, they have to be washed anyway! No evidence!_ ’

It’s been 20 minutes of nonstop soaking, smelling, resoaking, resmelling. And Ichigo did it. She managed to… completely supersaturate all her clothes and the sleeping bag. They are dripping wet, she doesn’t even know where to begin on drying them. Maybe she should have waited, maybe she should have let Mr. Kip help her wash them. Or at least give her some soap. But no, no, NO! She-she wouldn’t dare listen to hear him laugh and jeer and boo her! It’s-It’s too much! She would die! Die! She doesn’t want to die!

Ichigo kneels down, her panicked thoughts race through her. She’s struggling to breathe, all alone! No one to tell her to calm down, no one to hug her! No one to use their soothing spells! No one with calming wings! She never had to deal with another episode of hers alone! Why, why, why! Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die! Why…!?

Ichigo won’t die here! She won’t!

With her vision blurring, her chest heaving, and her arms jitterbugging about the place, she tries to place her hands together. She clasps them together by the palms. She wants to ball them into a fist, but she has to fight against each disobeying finger until they bend to her deteriorating will! She grips her hands tight, tightly, TIGHTER! GOOD!

She slams her fists into her chest! One time! Two times! Three times!

“URK!”

She kneels and collapses into the dirt, head-first, having hit herself below her heart, into the top of her stomach. Her nude body rolls onto her side, letting herself gasp and breathe. Lin once had to strike her chest like that when she suffered another attack when Savanna and the other maids had to go to a meeting. She apologized profusely after that. She expected to be chastised, even fired by her maids for assaulting her ward. It was the only time Ichigo has ever seen the ever-stoic and coldblooded bodyguard look so defeated, bordering on tears. But Ichigo was grateful to her, happy that Lin could save her, even if it did hurt. She promised to always keep it a secret, even have her back if it happened again.

And she’s grateful to the wolf warrior once more. If... less so, this time... Ow...

♥♥♥

By the time Kip arrives from the north, the sun is shining. The angelic waif lands back at the campsite with his trademark grace, albeit a little confused. He sees Ichigo’s clothes and the sleeping bag he gave her hanging on a tree, but Ichigo herself is nowhere to be seen. He checks the tent, but the girl isn’t inside their either. He worries something might have happened to her, only for him to hear grunts within the bushes.

“Nrgh!” Ichigo whines. With a lot of free time and a lack of clothes, she tries to pass a bowel movement in the woods. Another hole, another attempt. She thought that it would be easier without having to be nervous over messing up her dress, knowing a little more about the place she’s lost in, striking herself in the stomach, and having some water both in and on her. But alas, nothing comes out, just more gas. At this point, her stomach is really becoming a bother. “Mmmmnnn!!” She starting to have a bad stomachache.

“Ichigo?” shouts Kip. He approaches the noises slowly, not wanting to scare the nervous wreck of a girl.

Ichigo becomes startled. She really doesn’t need the boy to see her in the nude, trying to relieve herself. Her brain wracks itself, trying to find the right words to make him stop in her tracks without alerting him or letting him know what she’s doing. “…Y-yes?”

“Oh! There you are! Whatcha doing in ther--”  
“D-don’t—don’t…!!”  
“Huh?”  
“P-pleasedon’tcome!”  
“C-can you say that again? I don’t quite unders--”  
“DON’T COME I’M NAKED!” So much for keeping him in the dark.  
“W-what? Why are you naked? Do you sleep ‘Au _naturale_ ’ or something?”  
“N-no. I-I needed a-a b-bath.”  
“Ah. Is that why your clothes are wet?”  
“Y-y-yes.”  
“Okay! That’s good. Did my sleeping bag needed a bath too?”  
Ichigo stays silent.  
“Ichigo?”  
“It...uh… It got wet. Sweaty! Sweaty...”

Kip wonders how did that happen. ' _She_ _sweats that much?_ ' His curiosity is soon answered, when a gust a wind blows in, alerting him to a sweet scent coming off from the sleeping bag hanging off a tree limb. “W-wait, did you--”

“CAN YOU DO THAT THING AGAIN!?” Ichigo is a shade of red an evening sun would be jealous of.  
“W-what?”  
“T-that thing! The hand thingy! Clothes, me need to dry! Hurry! Cold!”  
“Oh-uh, Heat Wave! Uhh, h-hang on, I’ll get you your clothes, ASAP!”

Kip rushes towards the clothes, his palms stretched forward. He’s excited by the girl’s loud mouth, a little glad that she’s starting to open up. But she needs her clothes and she needs them now. “ **[HEAT WAVE!]** ” he shouts. Another blast of radiation strikes Ichigo’s belongings and his sleeping bag, rapidly drying them out. They become hot to the touch, the edges of each apparel becoming singed. With them dried, Kip hot-potatoes in them the palms of his hands, burning them slightly.

Ichigo realizes that he’s coming closer, necessitating her yelling “STOP” once more.

Kip realizes his mistake and puts the clothes bundle down on a bush, running away and keeping his back turned. Even he’s embarrassed at this point. “I-I’m not looking, I’m not looking! You’re good to go!”

Ichigo sneaks out from behind the trees, watching the “benevolent” hide his looks with his wings. She would love for him to fly off again, but it would be rude to ask. She grabs her clothes and hides back behind the tree, slipping them on in a hurry. They really are hot as hell, even her slightly damp body is doing nothing to protect her skin. They singe her lady bits and nipples, a puff of steam popping off of her. She smells the burnt ends of her clothes. Worse yet, she feels like her clothes are choking her body! Either she grew overnight, or her clothes shrunk! Her yellow-stained panties cling to her butt, giving her a wedgie that rides all the way up her rear end. Her breasts slightly spill out her black bra. She’s muffin-topping out of her pants, the belt-line squeezing her waist. None of which are doing her agonized guts any favor. If there ever was a “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” to her losing some weight, this would almost be it!

Still, she’s dressed and somewhat dry. And Kip's none the wiser. That’s all she can ask for at this rate.

Ichigo slips back out of the tree, dressed and far-from-ready for this day. Her stomach still feels heavy and her face is redder than a tomato. She honestly wishes to slip back into the tent, but if she hopes to get out of this spire (and cure her stomach woes), she has to start moving.

“So then, cutey!” Kip says with a smile. “Whatcha planning to do now?”  
“I… err.” Ichigo rubs the back of head and taps her toes. “I don’t know… I’m still not sure where I am or what this ‘spire’ is to begin with…”  
“That’s okay! I know you will figure something out!”  
“I-I can’t. I-I’m not really good at anything…”  
“Don’t be like that. Everyone’s good at something.”  
“Not everyone. Not me…” Ichigo slumps her head, her ears drooping along.  
Kip is starting to feel as blue as Ichigo does, a small frown starts to form on his face. “W-well… If you don’t trust yourself with figuring something out… than why not WE figure it out together!?”  
“Y-you still want to help me?”  
“Duh! It’s my job to help people in crisis!”  
“E-even after I-I ruined your sleeping bag…?”  
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the stains wi—”   
Ichigo darts her eyes, her cheeks burn with a hot red glow.   
“It… uhh… It will dry out, I’m sure of it.”  
"I-I-I…”

Ichigo is at a lost for words once more. Kip really is some kind of saint to put up with her for so long, so much. The girl… The boy really is so kind, too kind for his own good.

“Thank you,” she says, wiping her eyes. “T-thank you a lot. I-I don’t know how I can repay you.”  
“Again, don’t worry! You already are!”  
“H-huh?”  
“Benevolent secrets, my dear!” Kip gives a sly wink towards her. Ichigo just continues to look befuddled.  
“Oh, okay…”  
“Anyway, I thought of an idea. I decided to read into my handbook again last night, see how I can help you. And I THINK you can help me!”  
“H-huh?! W-wait, handbook? Help you?!”  
“Yeah, yeah! You are a--” Kip snaps his fingers, the word is on the tip of his silver-colored tongue. “Ny’oni! Ny’oni, that’s right!”  
“Y-yeah?” Ichigo begins to hold her fox ears. She wonders if Kip is like one of those “creeps” Alba once warned her about, an “exotic fanatic”. Those obsessed with races not of their own.  
“Sweet, alright!" Kip pumps his fist, he's beaming with exuberation. "My book said you guys have really good aether senses! Your ears and nose were designed like animals, able to feel and discern aether all around you!”  
“W-wait, really? Aether?”  
“Oh, uhh, aether is what we call what you all call mist! Though I guess there’s a few difference between them, but it doesn’t really matter. What DOES matter is that you can search out the master of the spire with it!”  
“M-me!?”  
“Yeah! Compared to you guys, my senses are pretty weak. No matter how hard I scan and sense, I can’t find him. This place has so much aether, all different kinds flowing about, I can’t make heads or tails about it! I’ll admit, this is… kind of the reason how I’ve been lost for so long… Hehehe… But with your help--”  
“ **STOP!** ”

Kip is caught off-guard by Ichigo’s sudden outburst. The girl, who seems very soft-spoken, sure got a good pair of lungs on her. He should probably make a note in his handbook that some ny’oni can yell really loud.

“I just – _pant pant_ \-- I just… please stop.” Ichigo feels ill, the flood of information is a little too much for her. But what really is making her feel jittery and gross is…  
“What’s wrong? Oh, I should probably go slower. You see—”  
“No, it’s not that... I can’t!”  
“Y-you can’t?”  
“I can’t do any of that stuff! I barely know what mist or aether or whatever this stuff is!”  
“H-huh?! I thought-- My handbook says you guys learn this stuff at age nine or ten!”  
“I… I couldn’t do it…”  
“You couldn’t?”  
“Savanna said… My maid… _Someone very important to me_ said that I wasn’t ready. That I should wait until I came into age when I should start learning magic. Cause when I did tried… Well…”

Ichigo begins to shiver once more. Out of all her failures, this one really hurts to remember. The details are hazy to her, but the end results are as vivid as ever: her body burning up, as hot as the sun for nearly a week. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak. Umi constantly apologizing and crying. She never wants to go through an experience like that again, and Savanna made sure she didn’t. Umi was barred from ever teaching her even an ounce of magic ever again, until Savanna said she was ready.

And she never felt ready since.

“I-I don’t know magic... I don’t know how to sense it. I only know of a few spells and what they do. Nothing on how to go about... go about using them. - _sniff_ -" Ichigo rubs her eyes. She never likes to relive her worst days.  
“Hey… It’s… It’s okay. Really! You’re in luck, in fact! I can teach you!”  
“Y-you...?”  
“Yeah! I once taught a bunch of orphans the fundamentals as my freshman final project! I was REALLY good at it! When I was done, those kids were tossing fireballs and my superior gave me my certificate!”

Ichigo… doesn’t know how to feel about anything Kip said. Is he really as good as he claims? Should she be taught by him? Who is this superior, and what’s a freshman project for him? And should kids REALLY be tossing fireballs!?

“Trust me, learning how to sense aeth-- mist is easy. Really easy, in fact! It’s all about spreading your wings reeeaaaal wide an-- Right, ny’oni. Not a benevolent. Haha, d’ohh!” Kip slaps the corner of his forehead, his smile not budging an inch. “Give me a minute, gotta see how y’all do this…” Kip rustles through his jacket and pulls out pocket-sized manual, bounded by white leather. It’s almost as thick as Ichigo’s thighs, and as packed as her bowels with all kinds of information on the various tribes, races, and civilizations of Pent. Watching the boy flip through page after page, struggling to find just how to teach a ny’oni girl magic is putting butterflies in Ichigo’s stomach.

“Um… Mr. Kip?”  
“H-hang on, I know I can… find it somewhere. In here… Oh, gosh, why didn’t I brought a bookmark…!?”  
“M-maybe it can wait. I-It’s not like I _need_ to learn magic…”  
“N-now hang on! I know I’m thrusting a lot on you, I know _you_ don’t need to learn it so much as _I_ do. But I can assure you, it will do the both of us good! The monsters, their hides can be tough! A good spell can cut what blades cannot! Or being able to break the wards in this place! Or even being able to dry your own clothes! You don’t _need_ to learn it, but wouldn’t it make your life much easier?!”

“I-uhh…” Ichigo ponders over everything Kip just rambled at full blast towards her. He looks quite a bit flustered, his page-turning has gotten much faster. She can’t really argue against him. Really, she’s more concerned about her tails rising outside of her control. Even… wagging. Is she getting excited over the learning magic? From someone that she only known for a day?

Or are they confused by her stomach? She feels like her nervousness is starting to jump-start her stomach. She rubs it as it ominously rumble and bubble.

“Ahah! There we go! Ny’oni!” cheers Kip, pumping his arm in triumph. “Let’s see here… Um…Yeah, yeah! It’s still easy! Not… quite as easy, but I can totally do it!” He shuts the book close and stretches out his left hand. “So what do you say, Ichigo? Want to learn some magic?!” Kip offers his bone-thin hands towards the anxious, brink-of-tears girl.

“…” Ichigo stares at the boy’s hand. She feels like this is a decision that could possibly change her entire life. She doesn’t know how, or even why, but she knows what she say and do here will alter her destiny.

For once, she feels like she has total control over her own her fate.

“Okay…,” she slowly says, caressing Kip’s hand and clasping them together. She gulps and takes a deep breath. “P-please teach me, Mr. Kip.”  
“Faaaaaaaaaaantastic.” Kip gives a toothy grin, shaking Ichigo’s hand over and over.

“Now then! I need you to turn around, about face, please,” pleads Kip, spinning his finger around.  
“Huh? Uh, okay…” Ichigo spins on her heels, staring the lake.  
“Now, I’m just… gonna approach _slooooowly_. Don’t panic. _Dooon’t paaannniiccc…_ ”  
“P-panic? Panic for what? What are you do--?!”

Ichigo feels Kip wrap his arms from behind her, placing one hand on her stomach and a fist between her breasts, straight over her heart.  
“AH! AHH! AHH!!” Ichigo kicks and screams and swipes her tails against the violator of her personal space. Who?! What?! Why!?  
“EASY, EASY! I’m not trying to-– ow, why!?” Ichigo headbutts Kip in the mouth in her panicking.

“ _Urgh_! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, calm down already!” Kip spreads his wings, once again illuminating the surrounding area. Ichigo begins to calm down, but having someone touching her like this is still making her jittery.  
“There, there... I got you,” Kip says, spitting out a bit of blood. His lip is a little split, but he’s trying to keep his composure. “Book says that you guys need a little help in breaking past the first wall, and I _think_ this is how you guys do it.”  
“W-wall?”  
“Everyone is naturally guarded against the mist. We got little ‘barriers’ in us that make sure it can’t hurt us. Breaking past the first two are important in becoming a full-fledged magus."  
' _You could have told me that beforehand...,_ " Ichigo thinks to herself, hoping she didn't do any real damage to the angel.  
Now then, I need you to close your eyes and take a really deep breath. Make sure it gets all in your belly. And don’t exhale ‘til I say so!”

Ichigo is afraid, but taking a deep breath might actually help her. If it doesn’t get her magic flowing, it would at least calm her down some more. Or at least get Kip’s bony hands off of her. She breathes, sucking in the air, letting it hit her empty stomach. She slowly close her eyes, preparing herself for whatever the “benevolent” boy has in store for her.

“Good, goooooood. Now, I’m going to apply just a little, teeny bit of pressure on you. Keep holding that breath, got it?” As he says this, Kip presses into Ichigo, feeling her soft body against his thin statue. Ichigo shivers more, as the harder he presses into her, the harder it is to ignore his presence. Even with whatever magic he’s doing to keep her from freaking out, she has to fight the urge to headbutt him again, possibly worse.

But what’s really making it hard to ignore is that he’s pushing straight into her intestines. Even his little bit of pressure is enough to start making her want to fart. But to do that, right as a member of the opposite sex is right there, its highly inappropriate! She diverts some of her focus downwards, ordering her buttocks to clench together. Just like Kip doesn’t want her to exhale until he says her, she demands her body to not make a peep until she demands it! Princess’s order!

“Good, good! Now then, you are going to feel a small jolt.”  
‘ _J-jolt?!_ ’

Before Ichigo could question it, she feels something shocking her stomach and heart, a small twinge of electric pain begins to flow within her! “GAH!”

“No, no! You still gotta hold your breath! Okay?!” admonishes Kip, sounding quite irritated. Ichigo is hurt by his sudden harshness, her ears drooping down a little. She takes another breath, gearing up for the shock to come.

“Okay… One more try.” Kip sends another jolt throughout Ichigo’s body. She tenses up, biting down on her lip. She clench both her hands into fists, inadvertently clawing into her palms. Her fox ears shoot up, with her wolf tails trying to follow suit, but only managing to slide into Kip’s torso. Ichigo feels faint, she feels like she wouldn’t be able to breathe even if she wanted to!

The jolts only last for a second, two max. But to the crown princess, it felt like an eternity.

“Annnnnnnd exhale!” cheers Kip, happy to see Ichigo succeeding. She gasps deeply, her furry knees buckling and dropping her to the dirt floor. She stops herself from being completely floored as she gasps for air, trying to take in as much as possible, not caring what Kip is cheering for, or his attempt at picking her up off the ground. She’s busy trying to recollect herself and get herself up.

‘Cause where she’s at, she’s in the perfect position for her to forget that as a princess, she shouldn’t be ripping a great one straight into a person’s face at full force.

_**Fwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaarroommmppppp!!** _

“ACK!” gags Kip, being completely unprepared for the onslaught of putrid fumes coming out from Ichigo’s backside. “Oh gosh, I had my mouth open! It burns, auuuggghhhh!!” He jumps back, rushing away from Ichigo as she lets loose. He doesn’t know if he should fly up or hit the deck, fearing that there is no escape from the noxious fumes.

Ichigo pauses, keeping her position. Her face is locked in a perpetual state of horror, one that won’t let her feel the relief of the pressure or try to apologize to Kip. She doesn’t even shiver. She just slowly picks herself off the dirt and slick back her bangs, too afraid to look at Kip. “E-excuse me…,” she says in a monotone whisper.

“Euucccckkkkk…!” groans Kip, his girlish moans echoing across the lake. “P-please warn me next time, you _reek_ , Ichigo!” He waves his arms and flaps his wings, feebly attempting to air out ground zero.

Ichigo can only nod as she contemplates where her life has gotten into. She massages her stomach and holds her head down. That one _hurt,_ it feels like her bottom hole is burning. More than Kip's comment! It felt so wet, so moist, she worried she might have had an accident right then and there. She can feel all the masses and gasses within her shifting down, preparing for another bomb. ‘ _Kr-chunk, kr-chunk_!’ her intestinal artillery cannon goes. Is this the fault of her previous ‘meals’? Or the result of her magical awakening shocking her straight in the colon? “Aunn…,” she groans.

“You okay?” asks Kip, gripping his nose tightly. In his watery, tear-covered view, Ichigo looks tense, ill even. He wants to get close, but the stink is still powerful enough to split the duo. ‘ _You’d think after a “release” that strong, she would feel better,_ ” he thinks to himself. But no, she is just standing there, too busy clutching her stomach and rubbing her butt. “Um… Do you feel the mist yet? Can you sense it?” he asks, trying to move on from what happened.

Ichigo is still silent her own grey eyes are watery. She gulps, closing her eyes. She can’t say she feels the same, but she’s pretty sure that isn’t cause she’s now a mage. She doesn’t feel anything akin to the mist, only the rumbling of her stomach.

She’s no magus. She’s just gross.

“No…,” she finally says, solemnly.  
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” repeats Kip. “Book says it might take a couple of tries. Thought it might be easier and I wouldn't have to use more mist than either of us can handle, since it sounds like you tried this before.”  
‘ _I hope I don’t do “THAT” a few more times._ ’  
“Let’s… just keep this between ourselves and get back to your training, okay? Just… stay like that and… warn me next time.”

Kip slowly approaches Ichigo, making sure she doesn’t have anything else in the tank. Woe to him, she does, she has quite the amount of fuel. Ichigo worries that she might let go once more, but she doesn’t want to admit it to the boy right there. She already embarrassed herself enough to today, from wetting his sleeping bag and tent to farting straight on him. Having to tell him when she needs to go?! That’s just… too much. She just wants this done so she can do her thing, alone.

Kip wraps his arms back around Ichigo, same position as last time. The gas has mostly cleared out, fortunately. “Okay, ready? Breathe…”

Ichigo takes a moment to think if she should do this. She can feel her gut reeling, the “cannon” loaded and ready, regardless of her “royal orders”. In fact, it feels like it has only grown more powerful, she can feel gas in her throat. She debates with herself, part of her wanting to excuse herself, part of her wanting to prove she can control herself and be done with it all.

“H-hey? Are you okay? You're ready?”  
“Y-yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just… thinking.”  
“It’s fine, take your time. I’m waiting on you.”

“ _Urp._ ” Ichigo burps in her mouth a little. Kip doesn’t hear. It actually manages to reassure her, that she can control her bodily functions. Or at least, it isn’t as bad as she’s worrying about. Part of wonders is this is just Kip’s doing… whatever he does to keep her calm or is she actually feeling confident. But in any case, her mind decides to get this over with and pray that she doesn’t have another butt-blast.

Ichigo takes a deep gasp and readies herself for another shock.

The jolts once again flow within her meaty torso. Each one causes her to twitch, her breasts and buttocks pop up-and-down slightly. But each one actually begins to hurt less and less, none of which hurting like that very first one. Ichigo realizes it feels less like a shock of electricity, more like a pulse of energy. These pulses flow straight from her heart, cover her entire body, and then rush straight to her center. It feels like raw power coursing through her veins, strengthening her when it flows. But also weakening her when it goes away. When it comes in, she can feel she can hold her breathe forever, maybe even throw a tree! But when it goes, her knees buckle, her eyes roll back, she feels lightheaded, and all she wants to do is breathe, breathe, breathe! Suck up all the air, drain it all!

But Kip didn’t say so. So she holds her breathe, waiting for that next wave of power to come.

“Annnnd exhale!” cheers Kip.

Ichigo takes some deep breathes. She doesn’t fall onto the ground this time. She actually feels good, pumped even. She turns to Kip, resisting the urge to beam him a smile, she doesn’t feel like she’s ready to show him her pearly whites. Her guts gurgle, but she isn’t worried. She doesn’t even need to clench that hard to keep herself under control.

“Feeling it yet?” asks Kip.

But she doesn’t feel like a magus. She doesn’t feel the mist, or at least anything different enough to believe that she is. Ichigo shakes her head, a lot of her enthusiasm drains out of her almost immediately.

“I feel like we are close. It feels like your aura is jumping to life, little-by-little. Let’s give it one more shot. Ready?”  
“Ready!”  
“That’s the spirit! Look at you go!”

Ichigo spins and Kip wraps his arms around her once more.

“Um… Wait. Mr. Kip? May I ask a question?” asks Ichigo.  
“Yeah?”  
“What exactly are you doing to me?”  
“Oh! Well I’m just helping channel the mist into you. From my hands, into your cores.”  
“My cores?”  
“Well, yeah. Cores! It’s like… your magical centers, a power generator for you. You ny’oni got about three of them, one in your brains, one in your hearts, and one right behind your navels. My people have all on our backs, right on our spines.”

Ichigo takes some time to think about what are cores. She feels like she should wait a bit for diving deeper into the topic.

“Ready?”  
“Y-yeah.”  
“Now this time, it might hurt a little more. I’m gonna try pumping in a good deal more, see if that is what its gonna take to break those barriers and jump start those cores! So take a deep breathe, and I mean DEEP!”

Ichigo does so, taking in as much air as possible. The pulses return far, feeling less like waves and more like slaps straight in her. The feeling of power isn’t any stronger than they were when Kip was doing it with less power, but the weakness she felt has been doubled. She has to lean against Kip, hoping that she doesn’t topple him over.

“You got this, Ichigo! Just a little longer!” cheers Kip. He winces, trying to stand his ground against the girl’s prodigious body while having the burning sensation of the mist flowing straight through his palms unfiltered.

Ichigo feels hot and heavy. Her strength fades every passing second, the boosts of power come farther and farther apart. She needs to breathe, yet she feel likes she can’t even open her mouth at this rate. All the pain is now coalescing into her center, right inside her stomach. It feels like a rock fell straight into some kind of “inner pool” within her, splashing all the liquids all over her innards. It has heft, weight, but it doesn’t feel solid. It’s weighing down her stomach, her colon, her entire digestive system, pushing everything down, dragging her with it! She slips out of Kip’s hand, still being unable to breathe. She kneels onto the ground, clutching her gut in agony!

“Ichigo?! Ichigo, breathe!” panics Kip.

Despite how common those words have been in her life, Ichigo struggles to follow along this time. The pain continues to move from all about her body into the single point of her stomach. Her flabby midsection gives her too much to grab, too much to figure out what to hold still. Whatever is inside her is holding her esophagus hostage, gripping it in a vice grip to prevent anything from coming in or expelling out! She can’t even dry-heave, the weight within her is preventing her!

Whatever is inside her only wants to leave throughout one hole, regardless of what it takes with it.

_**Fbbpt-plbtpbtpt-pwwwwp!!** _

Her rear end is breaching! Each blast smacks her butt cheeks with more than just gusts of wind, but particles of waste material. Her underwear becomes stamped with more than just hearts! It feels like a bubble of stink just burst three times over, each one somehow bigger than the last one! Whatever is inside her is squeezing her colon like a baker with his icing bag! She-she doesn’t have the strength to fight back against it, she wouldn’t even know how!

Ichigo sweats, the mass of energy within her is taking its sweet time, making sure she feels its agonizing presence, making her let loose not all at once, but in painful, vicious seconds. She doesn’t have a lot of time, she can’t afford to lose out on precious, precious seconds! She needs to drop her pants, her panties, get into a surrounding bush, and let loose her heavy load NOW! No time to think, no time to panic, no time to apologize to poor Kip, who got caught in another voluminous, sickening fart!

_**Blarrpppppppprrrtt!!!** _

_Now, **now, NOW!**_ She tries to grip her pants from her kneeling position, pull them down, get them off, but the small rope bindings are hugging her meaty thighs and flabby waist in a death grip! She loos--

_**BLLLARPT!!** _

She loosens the bindings and pulls down and around! The smaller size of her poofy, fluffy pants cause them to scrape and rug-burn her chunky legs! She can’t afford to whine in pain! Or dread of Kip, busy with clawing at his face to cover against the horrid stench, staring at her great dumper, the size of two ripe melons! She must move to those bushes, even if it means she has to crawl on the wet dirt!

As she approaches her emergency bathroom, Ichigo feels her middle tightening once more! The pain causing her to stop, shiver, and tip over to her right side! She—she can’t afford to have another burst! She fought against the dry ones, she fought against the moist ones, she fought against hot, putrid ones, she fought against the ones that stained her panties! Oh gods, she never took off her panties! The used-to-be-white, heart-stamped panties, in all their two-sizes-too-small in-glory, wedged between her cheeks like a pamphlet between an entire encyclopedia collection, is going to suffer the wrath of two days worth of her poor diet! It’s kissing her waste already, now it has to hold a mouthful!? Her tails rise towards the sun, her backside follows along, she grips her buttocks, pushing into her hole! She has to keep fighting! She needs to keep fighting! She has to k---!!

_**FFWLAAARRLLTTTT!!** _

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” screams Ichigo, the last gastrointestinal roar forcing something sloppy into her skivvies! Move, move, move! **Now, now, now!!** She summons the energy she was using to hold herself to pop herself back up, use her panties’ newfound slickness to slide them off of her in record speed, and hops into the bushes, ass-first! She doesn’t have the luxury of a hole to expel into, the bushes just have to take its fertilizer straight from the source, right on the roots!

_**FWWWAAARRLLTT! SLIIWSS-PBBPT!!! Shiiiiisss-bptpbt!!** _

How, how’d she went from solid constipation to straight diarrhea, she will never or want to know! Her system flushes their way in rapid succession! It’s all hot, its all noisy, its all spewing in a solid stream! It burns, it chills, its indescribable to this princess! This princess, voiding her bowels in the middle of the woods, a boy barely 5 meters away! This hurt, this _**hurts,**_ this _**hurts**_ physically, mentally, spiritually!

“AGGGHHHHH!! AUUUGHH! AUGH!” groans Ichigo loudly! She has to have pissed off some god for surviving as long as she did, knowing just as well as she does that she doesn’t deserve to live! They can’t just smite her where she crouches, they have to make her suffer in cruel and unusual ways! She dry-heaves, have to ready for another hot stream of feces!

 _ **Bwwllloptt!** Blwob! Blopt! _Bpt!

It’s over, it is over. It’s--

Fwopt! Plowpt! Popppbbbb!

 _Now_ it is over. She thinks, her stomach still burns. It doesn’t feel heavy anymore. She has to be empty now. She has to. She’s… she’s too weak to keep at this. Her legs feel like jelly, her butthole burns like the sun, she feels lightheaded and drained. She stumbles out the bushes, trying to not step on or in the wet, brown mass pooling around the trunk. She barely makes a few steps before she collapses back onto the dirt, needing to hold onto her guts, caress them. They’re still angry, perhaps furious for having to hold onto such a load for so long. Or having to expel it with such magnitude. In either case, it hurts, she hurts, everything hurts, everything hurts too much to even cry about it.

She wishes Savanna was here. She would be here, rubbing her tummy, maybe use some special ointment or give her some delicious medicine. She would feed her something to cool down her stomach and have Umi hum sweet tunes into her ears She would do anything and everything to make her pain go away.

All she has is herself.

Herself… and a kindhearted angel, rubbing her stomach as much as she is.

“—go! Ichigo! Please, speak to me! Are you okay?” begs Kip. The look of worry is glued onto his face, he’s on the brink of tears. It’s hard to tell if its from having to bear the brunt of her gases or an actual concern for her well-being. Her heart needs it to be the latter, it can’t take much more embarrassment in one day…

“Auugh…,” groans Ichigo once more. “Hurts…”  
“I believe it, gosh. Do… do you need water? Would you like some water?”  
Ichigo nods slowly.  
“Should I… should I take you to the lake? I… uhh… I don’t have toilet paper in my bag.”  
Ichigo doesn’t care. Whatever makes it stop hurting.  
“Do you… do you want me to take off your bra? Can you… can you do that?”  
Ichigo… tries to care about that. But she doesn’t have it in her to argue.

Kip helps Ichigo to her feet, helping her get her feet into the lake. He helps take the white bra off of her, taking care not to brush against her large nipples. Ichigo slumps into the lake, letting the warm water ease her groaning gut. Kip throws her a rag for her, giving her some way of cleaning up, before he takes to the skies. She has her privacy.

She is alone to dwell on her horrid actions.

Ichigo Sunada is just… gross.

♥♥♥

“Come on, come on. Please get out...”

Kip returns some time later, no greater than an hour at most. He sees Ichigo, once again scrubbing down her panties, on the opposite side of the lake from which she did her “business”. She did some real damage to them this time, even with having gotten them off. Skid marks lie right on the creases, brown spots and stains paint over the heart design on the back. Ichigo scrubs and scrubs, but its to no avail. She’s not made to hand wash her clothes, that was a wonder of having maids. They knew all the trademarks and secrets necessary to lift any stain from any article of clothing.

Ichigo doesn't. Her head is more made for diplomacy lessons and royal laws and other stuff that she will never actually use in her life.

“Hey, Ichigo! Feelin’ better?” joyfully asks Kip. He seems to have moved on from the horror show.  
“Go away, go away…” grumbles the moody Sunada.  
“Oh… I… I’m sorry.”  
“H-huh? Oh, no! N-not you… W-well, it w-would b-be ni… No! No! That’s… That’s… rude. Uncouth… But…”

Ichigo can’t make her mind up. She really does not want anyone being near her. Even after having two baths in the span of one day, she feels like a pig-sty. Doesn’t help she is so absorbed in her washing, she takes little note that she’s been flashing her rear end all this time. Part of her really doesn’t want to let the _boy_ know about it, she might throw up again. But part of her worries that she can’t handle the truth, she DEFINITELY will throw up again, and that will only make her feel grosser.

But she can’t keep ignoring the one person that have been trying to help her.

“I’m sorry,” apologizes Ichigo. She turns towards Kip, holding her soaked panties in one hand. “I’m just… that was awful.”  
“Yeah, I can’t even begin to imagine how that felt.”  
“P-please don’t, Mr. Kip. N-no one should go-go through that.”

“Do you want a hug? Will that make you feel better?” Kip stretches out his arms, ready for snuggles.

But no. It wouldn’t make her feel better.

“You don’t… you don’t want to touch me.”  
“Of course I do! Again, its my job to make you feel happy! And you look like you need a hug!”  
“But I’m… I’m nasty. Gross. I-I’ve desecrated your bag, I’ve ruined your lesson…”  
“The bag’s just a thing, I got plenty! And who’d said that your lesson was over!”  
“B-but I--”  
“And anyone that says you are gross or nasty or any other… mean word deserves a _wallop!_ Right on the back of their head!” Kip motions his hands upwards, clapping against his other one. “You are still are cutey, Ichigo! Nothing gonna change that!”

Ichigo still looks dour, but a rosy blush and a sly, white grin manages to sneak their way past her blues anyway. Seems like Kip isn't the kind of guy that would mock her for catching a stomach bug. Maybe even for bed-wetting in his tent. ...Maybe...

“Anyway, you need me to take your panties? Definitely could afford another [Heat Wave].”  
“Ye—”

Oh sweet merciful gods, she’s still butt-naked. How long has she been talking to him like thi--

“Thanks, I’ll be back in a jiffy! I know you like your privacy” he says, flying back into the distance.

Well… Crisis averted, she guesses. Nice to see that Kip's also the kind of guy that would make fun of her for being naked.

Alone once more, Ichigo slaps her meaty thighs and scratches her legs. Right, she should put back on her pants. Walking about commando may be uncouth for a princess, but anything’s better than nothing. Plus her bunghole is still a little raw. She could afford to air it out a little. 

Actually, now that she thinks about it, the air’s been different for a good while. Almost… heavier. Some parts are sweeter, some parts are bitter. Some areas feel harder to breathe in than others, its all a flood of new sensations, each giving off different information. It’s like, now that she’s away from her own stench, she’s smelling, feeling even, new whiffs.

Like she can smell auras now. She _knows_ what auras are, or at least what they feel like.

When she closes her eyes and focuses hard, breathing in real deep, she feels it. Strong sensations, far into the distance. Three, in fact. One feels fluffy and light, calming even. She guesses that one must be Kip, the familiar calming aura of his is unmistakable in these parts. But the other two are unknown to her. It’s all quite unknown to her, but these unknowns are more unknown than the others. She feels compelled to follow them, but not alone.

In fact, they might be what Kip is looking for. Hopefully…

♥♥♥

Deep in the woods, far and away from Ichigo, a young girl is laying on her side. A gold staff with a blood-red diamond lies betwixt her chunky thighs, as snug as they can fit in between the crinolines of her white petticoat. Her eyes are closed shut, but they can’t hide the tears that are starting to flow. She chatters her teeth, her white fox tail flaps against the ground as she shiver feebly.

She is alone and desperate. But she refuses to move from her spot. Not while she draws breath, not while she can keep up this ward, not while she is named Momo Sunada.

“WHERE IS EVERYONE!?” she yells in the distance, hoping someone, anyone will come to her aid. She’s been like this for gods know long, and she doesn’t know how much longer she can. But if at least one person can get her, rescue her, be her knight in shining armor, than she will wait as long as she needs to be, all without ruining her image of the eldest princess, Queen Anzu’s most precious child.

“SOMEONE COME GET ME ALREADY! I’M GOING TO DIE!”

Her most precious, loudest child...

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank you all for letting me hit 500+ hits! As well as the 4 guys that gave me kudos! Thanks for the support, and keep it up! Always remember that comments, bookmarks, hits, and kudos are always appreciated around here!  
> \---
> 
> Ichigo's Accidents -- 4 (Well, more like 5. But lets humor her and say that was a "close-call").
> 
> 4/24/2020 -- Minor corrections and additions made.


	7. Ichigo & Momo Sunada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's better than one desperate Sunada? Two of 'em, of course!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for both how long it took me to make this chapter, as well as how long it is. I was going through some troubles recently, hence my lack of updates. I do hope that I can go back to my weekly pace, but I really should take it easy and go bi-weekly for the time being. But enough about me, it's time to properly introduce you all to Momo!

Ichigo sits wet and nude once more. But for once, she isn’t annoyed, scared, or embarrassed. A slight breeze passes through her ears and hair. Her whiskers bounce slightly, in sync with her meditative breathing. Her eyes are glued close, shielding them from the rays of the sun. Her fangs feel cool as the mist runs out past them. Ichigo feels… calm… wise… at peace with the world. This what mages have to feel like all the time.

Nothing can ruin her day.

♥♥♥

The fox-girl lost in the woods’ makeup is running. With the sun at its peak, the mightiest of its rays are able to pierce through the canopy of the trees, right on top of her position. Momo’s been sweating like a pig all day, her short, loose, dark orange with a white-skunk-stripe hair have done nothing to block the sweat from running down her forehead and backside. Her white fox ears and puffy tail has felt heavy for a countless number of hours, wet with perspiration. The worst part is that her defense against the raw heat, her beloved fan, has been right next to her this entire time. A few hundred waves or so should be enough to survive in these foreign temperatures. She hates being in the humid, tropical East, she’s a Northern girl in heart and body.

But… she can’t. She _can’t!_ She could maybe hold it for a few minutes, wave off some heatwaves, cool her burning body, but she _can’t!_ She needs all hands on deck for as long as possible if she hopes to not… _release herself_ in the middle of the woods.

It’s been like this since she woke up early in the morning. Having to slide her arms into her royal dress and hold herself, move one out to grab her fan and beat it a few times, slip it back in to keep holding. At first, it was easy, she didn’t need to even slip her arms inside her dress, she could have just navigate one arm in between the crinolines of her petticoat and squeeze herself a little, if she couldn’t just ignore the rising pressure down there. Cooling herself wasn’t even something she had to do, more to pass the time, to be frank. She managed to count up to 316 before it started to get _that bad._

Now she just… _can’t!_ She can only count up by tens, twenties if she lucky. Lucky enough that the next wave doesn’t come and make her fall on her knees again, make her leak some more. She needs to stay vigilant, be ready for that next painful wave. She needs one hand on the inside the other on the outside to position hold her golden staff between her crinolines against her aching privates. It’s awkward, it’s painful, but its all she can think about at the moment.

Besides, a little perspiration can actually help, right? _Doing that_ is just releasing waste, and what is sweat but more bodily waste! It’s… unladylike, for sure, but that just means not even nature itself wants to see Mama’s favorite to ruin her favorite dress like that, the dress that Mama Anzu made for her own special day. And if nature itself doesn’t want Princess Momo Sunada, Lady of the North, to rue the dress Mama painstakingly crafted for her, that means someone is bound to whisk her away and save her from her predicament!

Anyone… any time soon…

♥♥♥

Ichigo’s meditative fugue is interrupted slightly by the hurried flapping of wings. Sounds like Kip is coming back, hopefully with her dried underwear. She would love it if Kip could dry her skin, preferably without looking. But honestly, the cool water droplets seeping down is starting to feel relaxing. Both her skin and fur welcome the many light touches of the lake water, the second-most pleasant feeling she had since she arrived in the spire. The first being the hug Kip gave her when they first met. She starting to wonder if she ask for another, preparing herself for a day of exploration. She’s reminded herself of one of the many _sessions_ her and Savanna had, and how much of a great big blanket she feels when she gets that close together. Kip’s nothing like that, but anything that can penetrate all her fears and boundaries is someone that is one the same level as her maids.

...It’s starting to dawn on her just how touch-starved she truly is, putting a borderline stranger on the same level as her maids just because he can give her not even all that tight of a hug. She… should probably stop meditating now. Introspection like this feels way too weird for her.

As she opens her eyes, she views the benevolent descending down. Realizing her under-dressed state, she takes the time to get up from the ground and rush behind a tree. Her face looks as red as a tomato as she grabs her glasses and sandals and scampers away. She peers out from tree, taking a deep breath and adjusting the bridge of her glasses to fit on her puny nose. As she does, though, she notices that Kip is just as embarrassed as she is!

Kip looks sheepish, his arms are crossed behind his back. He’s unable to look at Ichigo in the eye, his neck is locked looking towards the ground while his eyes dart away to the left. His foot scrapes against the ground. His breathing is off, the fact that it is noticeable at all to Ichigo is a cause for concern. Even his wings look slack, drooping down his sides. “H-hey, Itchy-- Ichigo…” he says meekly.

Ichigo now feels like even if she would want a hug, the _boy_ certainly doesn’t deserve it at the moment.

“Uhh… H-how are you?” Kip continues to ask, his voice somehow being an octave higher than normal.  
“Not… grea-- are you okay?”  
“Fine! Fine…! I’m… Well, I’m more worried how you will be…”  
“W-what do you mean?”  
“I…uhm… (Okay, Kipperson. Just be honest… she can’t be that mad…).”

Kip slowly moves his arms from his back, showing what looks to be a scorched, dirtied piece of elastic and fabric. It confuses Ichigo, unsure of what she is supposed to be looking at or why Kip would be so worried about it.

“Uhm… What am I’m looking at, Mr. Kip?”  
“It’s uhh… a very funny story, actually. Haha… Err… Uh…”  
“Mr. Kip?”  
“It’s your… I mean, it WAS your… well…”

Ichigo takes a whiff of the air. Past the smell of burnt fabric, she recognizes a peculiar stench. HER stench. “Are those my panties?!”

♥♥♥

‘ _It hurts, it hurts, ithurtsithurtsitHURRRRRRTTTSSS!_ ’

Momo begins to tear up. She’s clawing at her privates at this point, pressing her staff as tight as she can against her. Both hands are now dedicated to holding her waters with her rod, leaving her no way to beat the heat. Both her upper and lower quarters feel hot, in more ways than one. Her “chalice” is filled to its limits, and it will soon begin to spill over if she doesn’t figure out something soon…!

But the eldest Sunada is at an impasse. Mama Anzu’s dress is a special one, one that should be worn on special occasions, for it is something that requires at least two people to actually put her into the silken prison… and get her out. It’s not one that can just be casually removed, the corset and petticoat alone was a trial to get on. And that’s if she wants to get out of it and... _preform her royal duties_.

Momo knows for a fact that she really can’t afford to lose any more focus to trivialities like her needs. She’s been in this forest for what has to be a full day, and while she hasn’t been assaulted by whatever creature is in here, she knows for a fact that its because of her magic. The moment she woke up, immediately went to work on casting [ **Shell** ] on her surrounding area. One of the first spells she taught herself, its useful whenever she finds herself alone and in danger. Repels yetis and other beasties, masks her presence, gives her some needed peace and quiet. She knows that she were to ever get into a scenario like the one from before, this is the first thing she shall and must cast, else her sight would not be the only thing that she would lose.

But [Shell] has a few drawbacks she never thought would be this much of an issue.

Firstly, it takes quite a bit of time to cast it initially. It can vary, depending on how much she focuses on it, but it will always be enough time for anything that wants to gobble her up to sneak up on her and snatch her for good!  
Secondly, maintaining it requires a good portion of her focus. Some part of her thinking and breathing must be dedicated to keeping it up, at least once every 5 minutes. It’s a good thing that she mastered lucid dreaming enough that she can keep it up while she sleeps.  
Thirdly, she can’t cast anything else while it is up. No [Soothe], no [Ease], no [Savior], nothing that would make her lonely ordeal more comfortable, such as ease the pain and pressure on her “chalice”…  
Fourthly, she cannot move anywhere in a 3-meter radius. Moving place to place is usually something she wouldn’t do, especially not alone. Her blindness would prevent her from moving unabated, unless she wants all of Northern Iozario to witness her bumping into every piece of furniture, wall, or snow drift that exists. But it means she has to sit right in the sun and have all the shade she is surrounded by but doesn’t know exist mock her.  
Finally, and most pressingly, she has to keep breathing mist. This shouldn’t be an issue for any magus, certainly not a royal who’s been spell casting for years, but mist hurts to keep flowing in her system in-and-out. Burning out her mist flow at her stage would tingle normally, maybe give her a little bit of a nosebleed, but in her “current state”, it feels like its actually burning. Parts of her feel like they are on fire, and it is making keeping herself composed a challenge.

A challenge that is driving the firstborn princess up a wall! She has to debate what would be worth it. If she keeps up [Shell], she would keep burning out her mist flow, keep suffering, all day long. If she drops [Shell] and run up into the shade, IF there is shade, her mighty aura would give off enough of a presence for something, anything even to come devour the blind, helpless princess, not to mention she isn’t sure she can bring it back up in her current condition. And if she were to let loose, right here and now, not only would she bring great shame to the Sunada name, as much as her sisters have already brought, she knows would lose her focus on keeping [Shell] up, mark herself for any monster to sense, ruin the dress Mama Anzu made for her, AND she would have to sit in her failure ‘til her life comes to a painful and brutal end!

She cannot let ANYTHING akin to that happen! NEVER! _**NEVER**_!! _**NEV**_ \--

“AUGH! AUWGH!!”

Momo drops to her knees. Another wave passes through her, her “chalice” is rattled in her fury. She can feel it ready to drop onto the floor, spill all its contents all over herself, the soil, Mama Anzu’s dress. She hyperventilates through her teeth, the mist burning her tongue as it does. Tears being to well up and drip down her face, ruining her royal makeup even more. Her body is burning, her [Shell] is shimmering, both ready to crack under the pressure.

“No! No! NO! NO!!” she cries out loud!

But Momo Sunada is not a girl with an ordinary body! She is a princess with a royal body! She will be a QUEEN with a stupendous castle, a RIGHTEOUS castle of a body! It may not have windows, but it will be able to withstand any trial, any fate, any challenge! Whether it is brutish renegades with a bone to pick with her, devastating natural disasters, or just keeping it clean, her castle shall not fall, her body shall not fail, her royal pride shall never be depleted!

She rises to her furry feet, slips her rod from underneath herself and plants it into the ground! “[ **Shell!** ]” she shouts, her will reforming the barrier in an instant! And just as fast, she slips her golden staff through the crinolines, betwixt her sizable thighs, straddles it, and falls back onto the ground! The impact jostles her “chalice”, enough that she feels like a few more drops spill into her bloomers, but she thinks that’s just some sweat that seeped down in there. No, she knows, it has to be, fate wouldn’t be so cruel to the eldest Sunada, Mama’s favorite like that.

She pants heavily, exhausted and still in agony. “Ehehe… _pants pants_ Ehehe…,” she manages to writhe out. It’s funny to her, to struggle casting a spell she practiced many times before, it being the first time she had to put it to the test. She imagines how one of many knights would react if they saw her, all of them gasping at her miserable state. One would gracefully help her to feet, holding her ragged body in their strong arms. Another would be given her blessing to hold her fan, so they can wave the cool wind towards her. Their soft hands would ease her, long before one would prepare their own spells to soothe her ailing body. All of this and more will await her, if she just hold on long enough for them to rescue her...

“ _Sigh…_ ” She deserves to be pampered after all of this...

♥♥♥

Ichigo’s jaw is on the floor. She wonders what kind of accident could have happened to scorch her… They aren’t exactly her favorite pair of undies. Especially not after what they been through, but given that they are her ONLY pair of undies, they might as well be her favorite! She’s shocked, awed! She doesn’t have the words to describe this predicament! She… never had the words for any predicament, but now she is REALLY is speechless! She hopes no one have the words for such a disaster!

“Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” cries Kip, shaking his hands back and forth. “I can fix this, I can… do something to fix this, I promise! Just don’t panic, don’t panic! Stay calm! Stay _caaaaallllmmmmm!_ ”

Ichigo has to admit, to see someone acting more panicked and anxious than she normally is is a borderline out-of-body experience for her. Granted, this is a result of her being paralyzed in puzzlement more than managing to stay calm, she feels a maelstrom is brewing up inside her, and that is not the mist doing anything within. She wants to sit down, try to straighten her thoughts. If she faints from this, she at least wants to understand how in the world her miserable life has come to the point where a _boy_ immolates her only pair of undergarments in a magical, mysterious forest.

It would not stop her from fainting, only give her just a bit of solace and understanding before her soul leaves this mortal coil.

“Ichigo, Ichigo, I can explain!” pleads Kip, the fried undies flinging about the place in his antsy prancing. “I-I will take it from the top.” Kip begins to slow down his speech as he notices that it looks like Ichigo is clutching her chest. from behind the tree. He needs to calm down before they both suffer a heart attack. “I just… need you stay calm. Everything will be okay, just… stay calm…”. Kip’s wings enlighten, healing the both of their worries a little.

Ichigo’s heart begins to slow down, but it does little to ease her growing headache or even her increasing anger at Kip, herself, her undies, magic, and everything else that has spite her in the past day. She gulps down her brewing bile and walks out from the tree, feeling just a bit empowered by… something she can’t put her finger on-- No, wait. _Sniff sniff._ Now that she can feel aura like a real mage, she understands why she feels... if not calm, at least something akin to a tranquil fury.

It’s Kip. More precisely, Kip’s wings. Whenever they light up, they are able to keep her calm, the both of them really. She can sense the mist flowing in them, allowing them to radiate an aura of tranquility and confidence, the two things in life that she is sorely lacking.

Not enough tranquility to stop her from marching up to the angel boy and _sqquuueeezzzziiinnngg_ his shoulders hard.

“Owowowow I said stay calm! Please! I’m sorry! Let go!” cries the psychopomp.

“ _What happened!? Tell me!”_ groans the manhandling princess. She lets go and falls onto her knees, in the nude, feeling like she should cry. She lost her maids, she lost her dress, she doesn’t need to lose her panties as well. “Urrooooahhhh…” She clutches her stomach, bundling up into herself.  
“Do you have another stomachach--!?”  
“No, no… I’m sorry… I’m just… Not used to being angry.” She’s a little afraid to admit that being so furious and confused is actually making her nauseous. She doesn’t realize it, but the mist flowing into her all at once, with her stipend and brutish breathing is why she’s ailing at the moment. “Urgh… Can you tell me what happened…?”  
“Sure, sure. Just let me do this first.” Kip lays his hands on Ichigo’s back as gently as possible, wrapping the both of them in his great wings. He feels how angry she feels, how defeated she is, how wet she still feels, all through this one touch. “I’m sorry. I’m really am. Here is how it went…”

♥♥♥

“ **[Heat Wave!]** ”

Kip shouts excitedly, ready to dry off Ichigo’s underwear, not realizing he should be excited about this moment. Wearing warm, toasty clothes is a wonderful feeling, a feeling great enough to raise up anyone down in the dumps. Whether its a crying orphan or a crying lost girl-who-may-or-may-not-be-a-princess, being swaddled in their own clothes has to be like being hugged by your own mother. Even if it as small as underwear, he knows that anyone would appreciate nice clothes.

Especially if they just been soiled upon…

He hums a jolly lullaby as the burning sensation blasts from his palms and towards the girl’s panties. He is taking it easy, but keeping enough of a focus that he doesn’t roast or shrink them anymore than he already did. Ichigo already messed with his focus once already, and that probably led to her major discomfort later today. He hates that ever since he met the girl, he’s done little but made her more and more uncomfortable. He’s not being a great benevolent at the moment, but he’s determined to make sure that starting now, she is grateful for everything.

A girl like her is certain to give off a powerful, large helping of…

_Rustles_

Something is nearby.

_Rustles rustles_

There shouldn’t be anything nearby. He would hope that the girl wouldn’t follow him, and it certainly doesn’t sound nearly as heavy as her footsteps are. He crouches down, his arms still extended. Will he have to use his combat training? It’s been a bit, but he sure he’s not rusty quite yet. He’s ready for anything.

_Rustles rustles_

The mysterious being and the psychopomp standoff in silence. They keep like this for a good while, both ready to make the first strike and take down their threat. It’s a standoff between the boy and the definitely-a-beast. There is only Kip, the entity, and the smell of burning fabric.

...Wait…

Ichigo’s undies has caught on fire! He must have been cooking them for too long, and now they are catching smoke!

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Kip shouts and stomps on the flaming panties! How can he be so stu—stu—inattentive! If he’s quick on his feet, he can probably save her underwear! They might be a little too hot to her bum, but its better than not having it!

Just… a… few… more… stomps!

“Ha… Ha…,” gasps Kip. He slowly lifts his boots, dreading what lies underneath…

Scorched scraps…

Great job, Kipperson… Way to go…

Worst part is that the entity he thought was approaching…

♥♥♥

“It was just the wind?” asks Ichigo.  
“Yeah, just a twig rustling in the wind… I feel so silly… I know there wasn’t anything on this level, yet I thought something was…”  
“ _Sigh_... I’m glad you are safe, at least. I hope you aren’t hurt.”  
“Foot’s a little toasty, but yeah, I’m fine. And don’t you worry, even if there was anything, you can bet that I can handle it!” Kip flexes his nonexistent muscles. His twig arm does little to reassure Ichigo, nowhere near as much as his cocky smile.  
“Hehe…!”  
“Uh! There’s that smile again!”

Ichigo presses against her chubby cheeks. How many times she has smiled since she got here? Is she smiling cause she’s actually happy or is it just the fault of Kip’s aura? How many times she actually smiled in her life?

“ _Sigh._ I’m still down underwear, though…”  
“I know, I’m sorry. But I can fix it!”  
“You can?”  
“Well, not fix-it fix-it. Just… give you some new undies.”

Ichigo thinks about it for a bit, before coming to a shocking realization. “D-don’t give me yours! I-I never wore b-b-b-b-b-boy underwear!”  
“W-what?! No-no, that’s not what I had in mind! I don’t even think my underwear will even fit you…”  
Ichigo pulls at her stomach.  
“Uhh… I mean they are more like… custom-made for me. Not that… You know… Err… Changing subject!”

Kip takes out the scorched underwear, pulling at what remains of the elastic.

“Well, I will need your sizes if I’m going to do this right.”  
“My… sizes?” Ichigo tilts her head.  
“You know, your uhh… hip and waist size?”  
“Oh… right, that… Uh…” Ichigo whispers a couple numbers into Kip’s ear.  
“…Wow, that’s big… Are you sure that one's an 18?”  
“Don’t say it out loud!”  
“S-sorry, right, right. Err… Give me 10 or so minutes, its gonna take a bit for… that size… Gosh, hope I have enough training pants for that.”  
“H-huh?”

Kip prepares to take off, before feeling a hand on the back of his shin.

“W-wait, what do you mean by ‘training pants?’”  
“Oh, you know. Helps prevents kids from making accidents, good for helping them make it to the bathroom, that jazz.”  
“... _Why do you have those? Why do you have multiple? What is going on?”_ The nauseous confusion once again begin to bubble to the surface of Ichigo’s face, with it being all scrunched up and baffled. She grips her tummy once more.  
“Calm down! Remember, I take care of young orphans. I always say better to be ready than sorry.”  
“I-Isn’t it ‘safe, than sor--’, wait, why are you gonna fix my underwear with… that!?”  
“It’s all I have, easy, you are crushing my leg! But to be frank… don’t you think you might need something like that?”  
“H-huh?!”  
“I mean, you do seem to be a little… ‘accident-prone’ yourself. You seem to leak easy when you are scared, and I read that female ny’oni tend to have weaker bladders than their male counterparts.”  
“S-slow down! I-I’m not accident-prone! N-not that accident-prone! Nor do I l-l-l… do _that_ when I’m scared! And… **what!?** ”  
“I-Ichigo, please, let go, you are starting to hurt me!”

Ichigo, realizing her own strength, plus the fact she’s holding onto a _boy,_ lets go. She holds herself to her prodigious chest, trying to settle down her breathing. This is… a lot of information to take in at once. She turns to Kip once she catches her breath.

“I-I’m really not ‘accident-prone’, I swear! It was just that… I-I had a lot of tea and milk yesterday and I was holding it since the morning and then I had to hold it more after I collapsed and… and…” Ichigo begins to shiver and whine. She had her fair share of accidents, in a lot of senses of the word, especially recently. She… doesn’t like being look down upon like a child, she supposed to be of-age starting… yesterday. But she… really didn’t do it right… But it still isn’t fair to be treated this way! Why are the gods, why is fate itself treating her like this!?

“E-easy! I was just worried about you! I wasn’t trying to make fun of you, please don’t cry!” Kip holds her by her shoulders. He resists the urge to give her another hug, she still too shaken up and already trying to throw him off. “Shhhh, shhhh, it’s fine. It’s fine… We all make mistakes. Some of us wet the bed, some of us catch things that don’t belong to them on fire. I… Is this a sore spot for you?”

Ichigo sniffles, trying not to nod her head. She doesn’t really know why this bothers her so much, but it does hurt her to feel like strangers are expecting the worst from her. She relents, nodding her head slowly as she sorts through her thoughts, trying to figure out why it hurts that the mere mention of being put in training pants riled her up so much.

“It’s fine. A lot of kids--”  
“I’m—I’m not a kid…”  
“I am not saying you are, I am just saying this talk happens with a lot of kids I deal with. A lot of little and not-so little ones, dealing with trauma and the like.”  
“T-trauma?”  
“Yeah, trauma. Abandoned, lost their parents, survived something horrible. Pent deals with a lot of strife day-after-day, you know. And its the younglings that really suffer the worst of it. They don’t know how to deal with it, and it tends to come out in…bad ways, to put it as nicely as I can.”  
“Like…b-b—”  
“Bed-wetting, yeah. Accidents like that (Definitely easier to deal with than the little vandals-in-training). You have a lot of similarities with them, if not in… age, I believe? How old are--”  
The littlest Sunada tucks her head in shyly.  
“Right, sorry, should not ask a lady that. You can tell I don’t deal with a lot of ny’oni, I usually deal with humans. They like to grow up fast, you know. From what I hear about my comrades and read in my handbook, you all aren’t… as fast.”

Ichigo dwells over this. If what he saying is true, she more than likely isn’t alone in her… issues. At least in regards to her recent streak of accidents. It at least makes her understand where Kip is coming from, but she doesn't appreciate sounding like she's "traumatized", and she still isn’t keen on wearing anything akin to “protective undergarments”. She rubs her furry legs in fear, she’s scared about someone finding out about what happened in this “adventure” of hers. The last thing she wants to read in the tabloid headliners is “Princess Sunada the Incontinent! Wears Children's Diapers Everyday! ” It would make the morning tea way too much of a hassle...

“Though, with that said, I AM being presumptuous,” Kip says. “I barely know you. I just know you are cutie, you are lost, you are scared, you need help, and you need underwear. I know I wouldn’t like be walking about in the woods without my trusty spats. You probably aren’t even accident-prone. Maybe just a little unlucky, but it wouldn’t even matter, really! I just want you safe and comfortable.”

“...I like to be safe…,” Ichigo says quietly.  
“And comfortable?”  
Ichigo nods slowly.  
“And I guess you don’t like being naked?”  
Ichigo claws at the dirt with her toes, the reminder at her current state of undress isn’t helping, but she deserves the slight. She shakes her head.  
“Good. Now, would you like me to fix your underwear?”  
“…Yeah…”  
“Thank you. Why don’t you hang out in my tent, get dressed, and wait for me? I’ll be done in as soon as I can.”  
“O-okay…”

Ichigo wobbles to her feet, having knelt for a little too long. As she grabs what remains of her clothes and head to the tent, she stops.

“Hey...Uhh… Can you… not burn my tails off and help me dry off…?”

♥♥♥

The most regal of the Sunadas kneels, rubbing her meaty thighs together tightly. Her hair has become disheveled, her sweat-soaked bangs slapping her in the face. The bags of her eyes are red and black with tears and exhaustion, her throat feels drier than a desert, a bulge in the mound of her stomach has managed to pop off a loose belt of her corset. She sways back and forth, unable to keep her balance. She eventually tumbles onto her right side, loosing her grip on both her staff and nether-region. She has to slide her arms within her dress in order to regain her grip down below, relenting to the fact that there is no way she can stand back up. She can feel how sticky her thighs are, her fur clinging to her skin and petticoat. She’s losing this challenge by the minute.

And yet, she can’t help but daydream. She dully smiles the day away, thinking just how much her knights in shining armor will pamper and delight her once they get here. She can’t wait for her chefs to prepare her a feast, she knows just what she gonna consume. Turkey and white wine, her comfort foods.Her groomers will be spending hours fluffing back up her fox tail, especially with how stiff and rigid its been. Her stylist making her some lovely new garbs. One that isn’t as tight and constraining as Mama Anzu’s dress. Not that she doesn’t love it, it just so… constricting on her middle. She can feel her meal bulging against the corset, feathering against that loose band of it. It sloshes about, the wine already inside her floating to the back of her fangs. No matter how hard she swallows, she can’t get them to go back down her throat. It’s making it so difficult to empty her chalice.

It’s slick in her grip, as some wine has spilled over the top. She should reprimand the servant who overfilled her chalice so much, even in a feast. She has to slowly balance if she hopes to drink it. And yet, she just… can’t reach it to her mouth for some reason. The wine is ever-flowing, seeping over the top more and more, but never completely spilling over. It makes it hard to grip, hard to get a feel for, hard to ascertain what she has even is a chalice. All these and more is making her more and more nervous, as if she’s waiting to just pour the entire thing right onto herself. Her stylist would certainly be annoyed she just made a mess of herself like that, especially on purpose. And yet… she can’t help but feel that the thought of just dumping the tankard right on her lap would feel… so good. After all she’s been through, she can afford to make a mess of herself… It’s her feast, its her drink, its her dress. She doesn’t even need to put half the effort in pouring it over, it look likes… its going to do so itself any time soon…

“ _Gasp!_ No…!” Momo regains some of her senses, enough to realize that spilling her “chalice” would do her no good. She can live with gaining the ire of her stylist, but she more than likely wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She’s not Ringo, she can certainly hold a drink, even with her palms so wet and… sweaty. She’s been holding this chalice for a good while, they are starting to smell pungent for all their work. Princesses like her should be worried about book work and magic lessons, not manual labor. Her self-worth is not measured by the sweat of her brow, her hands, her thighs, her… underwear…

She could always use a bath…

“[ **Shell…** ],” she says in a daze, escaping from her tortuous reality into her regal fantasy. She can’t wait for her feast to finish and her bath to be ready… It will be here soon…

Soon…

♥♥♥

“Well… how do they feel?”

The angel boy awaits patiently outside the tent as Ichigo adjusts the waistband. It’s pretty obvious just how… stitched together these “panties” feel, especially against her skin. When she slips them on, she can feel each handwoven seam cut into her thighs a little. The puffy leg holes scrunch tightly around them, the brown plastic-feeling material made out of them doing little to comfort them. Her crotch, on the other hand, is swaddled in a soft, thin-sheet of a white, wool-like padding. The padding caresses the most important parts of her pelvis, the rest suffering the plastic and fabric that consists of the rest of her new underwear. The entire thing grips her waist as much as it carries her butt.

Ichigo grabs at her crotch. _Crinkle._ She can feel the plastic crunch in her hand. As she pulls down on the front of her underwear, it _crinkles_ some more. The front droops down ever-so-slightly, but it stays snug on her pelvis.

These really are made for her, and she can’t help but feel ashamed at that fact. At least they still have that heart designed stamped on the backside, an ode to her time spent in grown-up garments. Kip was even nice to slit them in a way to accommodate both of her tails.

She slips on her not-so white pants, tightens her black bra, and carries herself out of the tent with a sigh. “They… work…” she says, solemnly.  
“Yay! I was worried I was rusty!” cheers Kip. “They aren’t too tight or anything, right?”  
“No, no… They are fine. A little starchy, I guess?”  
“You’ll break ‘em in!”

She hopes she’ll "break ‘em in". The newfound bulk is making her bum and waistline just a bit rounder, moreso than they already deserve to be. She worries how obvious they are with her pants surrounding her. She lifts and stretches out her legs, feeling the plastic and padding press into her skin, slightly hearing the trademarked _crinkle_. Ichigo hopes she’ll break ‘em in before they break her.

‘ _I don’t like this… I would rather walk about in commando at this point,’_ Ichigo thinks to herself. ‘ _Or…_ _really, I guess I wouldn’t._ ’ Ichigo wiggles her hips, letting the wool settle around her curves. ‘ _They could be a little more comfortable, a little softer. There could be more wool, loosen the waistband, even. Widen the slits. Make more hearts, even. But I guess he was doing the best with what he got…_ ’

“Ichigo, you’re okay?” asks the curious lad, towards the girl who looks like she’s chasing her own tails.  
“O-oh, sorry…! I was-- I-I thought-- Let’s just go already!” Ichigo blushes, snapping out her fashionista mindset. “Protective undergarments” don’t deserve such criticism, being handmade for her or not.  
“Cool! ...Go where, exactly?”  
“I-I haven’t told you, yet? I-I’m… sensing something.”  
“Sensing something? Like, you got a ha-ha feeling or something or…?”  
“Like… there auras. Where the mist is flowing…”  
“You can do that now!? Way to go, Ichigo! We really make a great team! You think its the Master of the Spire?”  
Ichigo blushes towards the compliments at her fledgling magic senses. “M-maybe?...One does feel weaker, really weaker, than the other, the other kind of flickers a lot. Sometimes its on, other times its off. But I can still sense it whenever its ‘off’, I guess?”  
“Hmm… Doesn’t sound like either is the Master. But I guess I wouldn’t know what would that sound or feel like.”  
“S-should we follow them? Th-they might be--”  
“Remember, there aren’t any creatures on these floors. My guess is that they are other guys like you, people shanghaied to this spire. If what you say is true and aeth-- the mist is flowing towards them, than they could be mages in trouble!”  
“T-trouble…?!”  
“Easy, easy. I doubt its anything life-threatening, to them or to us. But being here is trouble nonetheless, and I would not be a good benevolent if I just left them! I am going to need to borrow your nose, Ichigo.”  
Ichigo covers her nose shyly.  
“Hehe, silly girl. Enough jokes, though. Let’s go save those mages, Ichigo, lead the way!”  
“R-right! Got it!”

Ichigo close her eyes and sniffs the air once more. Those auras once again make their presence known to her. Both give off a bitter, biting smell, the mist singing her nose every time she tries to use her newfound ability. She suspects that it will get easier, hurt less the more she practices it. This time, she got a better sense of the distance between her and the auras. The weak one is quite a long distance from her, she guesses it might take all day on foot to each that magus, and that’s her kindest estimate. But the flickering one shouldn’t take too long if they hurry. She doesn’t know how long it will take, but she feels confident that they’ll make it.

Hopefully, they’ll find some breakfast along the way.

♥♥♥

_Groooowwwwwll…_

The duo have been walking for quite some time. The sun is still shining, its harsh rays managing to penetrate past the leafy canopy and land on top of the happy-go-lucky angel and peckish princess. Away from the refreshing waters lake, it becomes apparent just how humid today is. Ichigo can feel how she’s starting to sweat, her underarms starting to stick together. But more importantly, she can feel how her buttcheeks is starting to stick to the plastic of her “undies”. The wool inside is trapping plenty of heat down there, the poor ventilation of the makeshift trainers are becoming apparent to her. She has to resist the urge to waddle, its just a waste of energy. She needs as much as she can if she hopes to keep her nose towards the way where the mist is flowing, especially without anything inside her stomach.

“Hey, Ichigo? You want to take a break?” asks a concern Kip. “You looking a little pale. Remember, you shouldn’t push yourself, you are still new to the whole ‘magic’ thing. Don’t hurt yourself for my sake, okay?”

Ichigo doesn’t know how to respond to Kip’s worry. She looks behind herself, gazing upon the angel’s sad disposition. “D-don’t worry… I-I can do this. I’m just…” Ichigo wipes her brow. “...A little hot...” She wiggles her hips. “And… sticky…” She presses onto her gut. “And…”

_**Groooooowwwwwllll…..!!** _

“Hungry?” asks Kip.  
“Y-yes, please…”  
“Oh, guess you did miss breakfast.”  
“I hope we find more of those berries…”  
“Berries?”  
“Sweet, red berries…” Ichigo smacks her lips, she could go for another bushel right now.  
“Oh, you shouldn’t eat those! Those are Royal Flushes! They’ll rush through you guys like a river-rapid!”  
“W-what?”  
“They have a moderate diuretic effect when taken in high doses. Good amount of lasses on the surface like to use them to lose weight, excusing its mostly gonna be water weight, haha~!”

‘ _Whelp_ _, that explains_ _our_ _… unfortunate meeting…,_ ’ dreads Ichigo’s psyche… She hopes that those… Royal Flushes explains her bed-wetting, and not something more serious going on within her. She really hopes she isn't "traumatized", like Kip thinks she is.

“They… did taste good, at least…”  
“I would hope so…” Kip bats his wings, the realization dawning on him. “ _Ahem,_ well, thankfully, I got some real food for us.”

Kip rustles through his bag, really reaching in. It becomes apparent to Ichigo now that the bag has some magical properties of it own, as she can sense the large amount of mist that flows in and out the opening of it. It explains how the lad can put his entire arm into it, eventually getting out two unmarked, metal cans.

“Ahah! Beaaaaannnnssss!” shouts the lad, all pepped up for their brunch of… canned beans.

Ichigo can’t help but feel a little disappointed. Part of her was expecting something like a full-course meal, something delicious, something heavy on her stomach. After her… unfortunate voiding scenario, she really would like to replace her nutrients with something really hearty. As Kip shakes the cans, however, it occurs to her just how spoiled it would sound if she would say this stuff to his face. She won’t be eating good, hearty meals for a growing girl, the kind Daisy and Umi would cook together any time soon.

Now she can’t help but feel bummed out…

“What’s wrong, Ichigo? Don’t like beans? They’re _baked~♪._ ” Kip singsongs.  
“W-what? Oh, no! I mean, yes! No…! I’m just…well…”  
“I don’t have a lot else, but I do have some…”  
“No no, I’ll have the… the beans. I was wondering how you are gonna open them, do you have a can opener?”  
“Can opener? With these babies--” Kip strikes a pose and flexes his bony arms! “—Who needs a can opener!? [ **Burn** **Knuckle!** ]”

Ichigo can sense the mist flow from around them, straight into Kips arms. She can feel them combust within his muscles, the flaming force traveling up into his hands. All that energy soon flows straight into the cans, heating them up in an instant. Kip keeps the fire on them as he shakes them, enough that the top warps and they _pop_ on open! Some of the beans drop onto the dirt below, hot sauce pour onto Kip’s hands. He blows on them, still holding onto the cans. He soon looks towards Ichigo, giving off a sly smile, pretending that he didn’t singe his hands doing his thing.

“Haha, made you thought I could crush ‘em, didn’t I?”

Ichigo resists the urge to shake her head. She doesn’t even need to feel his arms to tell he can’t even crush a bug with them.

“Here you go! One hot meal, ready to eat on the move. Or we could sit here, they are kinda messy. Wait, are you sure you want beans? I think I got some vegetables in here…”  
“D-don’t worry… I-I’m fine with beans.” Ichigo isn’t… happy with either, to be honest. But she needs food, **now** , and she doesn’t need to come off as ungrateful.  
“Good, then! Now let us dine like kings! Or brunch, in this case.”  
“...Do you have a spoon...?”

The two sit in the shade and dine on their savory meal. Ichigo can taste just how thick the brown sugar and honey that is in within the sauce, she can tell just how they dumped it all into the can. They smother the beans, making it hard to taste them. What little she can, they taste bitter, even a little burnt from the unorthodox cooking method. Despite this, she consumes each spoonful by the dozen. She can’t help herself, her gut won’t let her waste even a bean. Each bite have a special sense of satisfaction that only grows. She’s alive, she’s eating, she has company. She’s surviving, and that makes this “meal” heartier and more filling than anything she had before.

“Mmm...~!” she moans, sauce dripping down her jaw. “Thank you, you are too kind, Mr. Kip…!”  
“Haha, glad I could help, Ichigo. Here, you can have the rest of mines if you would like, I don’t get that hungry anyw--”  
Ichigo doesn’t take a second thought before snatching it and digging for more protein-y goodness.  
“Gosh, you must have been starving...! Eat up, get your strength back.”

Ichigo becomes lost in the sauce. She doesn’t mind the mess she’s making of her cheeks and whiskers, even on her glasses. She forgot how sweaty she got on this trek. She almost doesn’t mind the little pops and crinkles that are coming from her buttocks smushing against her training pants. These two cans of beans are making her feel more alive in the past day then she had in a long, long time.

“...Say, why don’t you take a break here, finish eating? I think can kiiiiind of feel the mage from here, maybe.”  
Ichigo swallows another spoonful, before going “W-wait, I should-- I thought you need me?”  
“I do, but you might want to stay here a little, enjoy yourself, you know? You’ve earned it, young one.”  
“I...I would like that… But I think I…” Ichigo thinks it over some more. The more she walks, the more she sweats, and the harder it becomes to break in her new “panties”. But she can’t do that if she doesn’t walk at all. “I think I could eat-and-walk, maybe just a little longer… My feet do hurt, my body is hot, but I don’t want you getting lost, Mr. Kip…”  
“You sure you want to?”  
“W-we are close, I can tell. I can… I can probably lead you to there, at least.”  
“Alright then… Just… sit down the first thing you feel exhausted. Don’t wait for your nose to start bleeding, okay?”

Ichigo hobbles to her feet, holding onto her cans. She begins trekking through the forest, with Kip slower than she was before. Even after resting, its appears that she’s hitting another limit in regards to aura sense. The closer they get, the woozier she feels. Walking-and-eating is easier said than done, especially with her exhaustion.

Ichigo presses her butt against a tree, slumping on down. Kip watches her heave herself to the floor, struggling to catch her breath. The Crown Princess of the East is as much as a mage as she is in-shape today has shown much.

“You did good, Ichigo. Take a break, you’ve earned it. You really did,” Kip cheers, giving her a thumbs-up.  
“W-we are close. Just a… just a – _huff huff wheeze puff_ \-- little further…”  
“Then I can do it from here. Enjoy your beans, cutie~!”

Kip moves on, relying on his senses to reach him towards the goal. Soon Ichigo finds herself recovering alone. It’s a little infuriating for her, to know that she is so weak, in both fitness and in magic. As some beans fall both into and onto her belly, she realizes that only one of those things are going to change in this adventure. Despite her exhaustion, she once again tries to sense the mist, after finishing her can. She can feel Kip’s aura getting closer and closer to the flickering source. She hopes he can reach her without too much difficulty.

“…!!” Something shocks Ichigo, enough for her to drop her can.

That difficulty, however, seems to be approaching them. Being this close, she can sense that there is something on the outskirts of their position, and its beginning to close in. Believing that it is attracted to Kip’s aura, Ichigo fears the worst for her new _friend_. Fighting the pain in her legs and the training pants riding up her crack, she hurries to Kip’s side.

♥♥♥

“I...I can’t do it, Mama… I can’t do it… I can’t hold it, I can’t do it, Mama…!”

Momo’s whines have been growing louder and shriller. Without her constant focus and vigilance, her [Shell] has begun to crack, weakening more and more. But what is truly weak is her poor “chalice”, well and truly overfilled. Weathered with agony, her limit has long been breached, and now its just a matter of time before her will, her pride, and her [Shell] shatter. She lies on her back, as princesses in crisis would do, like in the storybooks. She fears that even a slight shuffle to her side, with as bulging and bulbous her “royal container” is, will force everything inside to rush out. She can no longer hold herself with her staff, she feels she’ll pop if it even a small gold flake scrapes against her privates. She has to feather her agonizing belly with her waterlogged, drenched-in-sweat fox tail if she hopes to do anything to comfort it. The eldest Sunada feels like she is drowning in her bodily fluids enough, she doesn’t need any more to release from her.

She can’t pee herself. She can’t pee herself. She can’t pee herself. She can’t pee herself. Not again. Not again. Not again.

She wishes her knights, any knight will come right now, right at this instant. If they can’t save her from her horrible fate, she can pin the blame on them! They made her pee herself! She was captured by them, they refused to let her go relieve herself! Hell, they probably peed on her! No one will know!

She’s gonna pee herself. She’s gonna pee herself. She’s gonna pee herself She’s gonna pee herself. It’s gonna happen again! It’s gonna happen again! It’s gonna happen again!

“Please… save me…,” begs the girl. She can feel it. She can feel her lower hole gradually widening. She can feel the mist burning the last of her willpower. She can feel the urge to get it over with and pour her chalice all over the place. She can feel her [Shell] is ready to burst. She can feel herself ready to explode. She can feel an aura approaching her, fast. She can feel the hope returning to her, with every step it takes. She can feel that nostalgic feeling, what it was like to be rescued, all those years ago.

Her knight has arrived, he’s come to save her.

She will pee herself. Release all her waters. Spill her chalice. Ruin Mama’s gift. Flood her bloomers. Drown the dirt and grass in urine. Won’t even see the tsunami she’ll leave in her wake. Just like that time long ago. And the time Ringo was too slow. And last week, right during preparations for the littlest Sunada.

And she doesn’t even care. Her knight is here. HER knight is here! A knight that wouldn’t care about what she did, a knight that will treasure her no matter what. A knight that will want to carry her, she stands onto her furry feet. A knight that will want to touch and caress her, she presses against and shatters her [Shell]! A knight that will run and hug and spin her around like a ballerina, she begins to darts towards the bright light aura! A knight that will save her from all the pain, all the agony, all the shame, all the fear!

_Drip! Dripp! Dripppp! Psh! Pshhhh!_

Momo rushes and collides into something, her wet, sweaty head straight into its bony chest! She wraps her arms against it, not taking care who or what it is. It’s here for her, and here to save her!

“My hero~!” she cheers, swooning in ecstasy!

_Pssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!_

Her bladders gives, pooling within her bloomers, riding down her legs, splashing onto her white tail, saturating the pink-and-white dress, forming a great, dark blotch, drowning her feet! Her wet self, drenched in all kinds of bodily fluids, _splooshes_ against her savior! She wags her tail, splashing sweat and urine all over the inside of her dress! _Wag wag wag, Splish splish splish_!

Her smile only grows, her hero has already save her from all the pain. The blind girl can’t even see his face, but she knows he’s happy that she’s happy….

Oh, so happy she is…

“WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!” shouts Kip, his white clothes once again being into putrid yellow. The girl hugging him tightly just soaked herself, just as much as that time with Ichigo. At least back then, he could step back and avoid the golden shower. This time the girl is snuggling straight into herself, her flat chest straight on his. Her big, sweat-drenched, white fox ears nuzzle on his pectorals, her thin white whiskers itch his stomach. Her black claws are out and about, digging into the lad’s back as her over-saturated crinolines are digging into his legs. She purrs, he groans. She snuggles, he squirms. She can’t stop her fluids from running, he can’t shake her off her.

Her knight, his assaulter.

“H-hey, I’m all for a hug, but could it… be a little less _tight_!” Kip says shrilly. He can feel the ny’onis claws starting to break his thin, baby-like skin.

Momo breaks from her stupor, ‘tis only for a second. “Oh, you are a lady knight! Such a sweet voice you have! Please, carry me away from this horrible place! I cannot stand another second!”

She wraps her arms around his neck and hops onto Kip, soaking him even more in her fluids! He has to bridal carry the poor girl, letting him feel just how… gross the girl is. He feel as sorry as he does disgusted for her, feeling the urine drip down her petticoat, her sizable behind and thighs, and into his hands. It doesn’t help that…

_Psssshh! Psssshhh...!!_

She… wasn’t done yet...

‘ _Do I look like a toilet, lady!?_ ’ Kip wants to say. But he knows he shouldn’t, that’s rude. The girl looks tortured, she must have slept on the ground for as long as he was away. He sees the growing sunburn underneath her running makeup; the bleeding nose and scratched throat, clear signs of mist poisoning; the mud caking her hands and feet. The only reason he didn’t thought she was some orphan girl he picked up was the copious amounts of jeweled studs covering her regal dress. Her eyes, as shut closed as they are, are flowing with tears, much like her bladder. She doesn’t need to hear him angry. ‘ _I guess the book said they had weak bladders, not tiny ones, euck..._ ’

“H-hey, easy, easy. Don’t cry, I’m here…” he says, softly.  
“I-I’m not crying, milady… I’m not… I’m just – _sniff_ \-- so, so happy to see you… To see anyone...”  
“W-wait a minute, I’m not a lady! Don’t want… another misunderstanding like that, don’t need to give another girl a heart attack like Ichigo.”  
“Huh…?” the fair lady tilts her head into her knight’s chest, the sense of familiarity briefly breaking her from her haze. “Ich-Ichigo?”  
“Yeah, Ichigo. A friend of mines, you know he--”  
“Don’t say that name, milady!” shouts the girl, clearly infuriated. She can feel the cracks on her dream starting to form. “That, that witch! She was the one who brought me here, in this… I don’t know what or where! Never shall you utter that damnable name in my presence!” She swings a slaps towards Kip’s face, missing by a hair.  
“Woah!”  
“There is only one true princess, one true daughter of the Sunada name! And she’s here, in your arms, my fair knight~! Momo Sunada, ohahahahaHA!”

The shift from raw fury to blissful glee scares Kip, especially as she tighten the hug around Kip’s neck. The more she snugs herself into her knight’s arms, the more the duo begin to reek of ammonia. She feels slick to the touch, always feeling like she’s one step away from slipping straight out his hands. He can feel her puffy tail bulge in the back of her dress, how its sticking to her plump thighs and bubble butt, covered in moles and dimples. Kip’s eyes are starting to water, the sour smells doing him no favors. He has to fight against dry-heaving.

“Now, please! Don’t dilly-dally! Take me away from this horrible nightmare! Let us live triumphantly, without a care in the world!”

“Uhhhh…,” utters Kip. If only she could see the look of sheer bafflement. “Okay, then…?!”  
Kip struggles to keep his balance, the princess named Momo is heavier than she looks! He wonders if its the fault of a royal diet or a royal dressing! 

“C-can we make some things clear?”  
“Please, silence, milady! Let me rest… I feel… so… sleepy…”  
“Again, not a lady!” His shrill ire is not helping his case. “And hang on, don’t fall asleep on me! It’s barely the afternoon! And what’s with the hate with Ichigo!? And she’s a princess?! Like you?! And--”

“ _ **Rooooooaaaaaaaarrrrr!!**_ ”

Both Kip’s and Momo’s wild thoughts are interrupted by an even more wild roar. Something is coming, at full force, something that the duo sense is quiet powerful. It had to have been masking its presence, much like Momo has been! And without her **[Shell]** , its coming straight towards her! And her knight!

“Aiiiieeee!! Save me, milady!” she shrilly screams! “I-It’s coming to eat meeeeee!!!”

Something inside Kip --as well as on him-- is telling him that at this point, neither of them would taste particularly well…

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Momo's Accidents -- 1  
> Ichigo's Current Underwear: Stitched-Together Training Pants  
> Current Status: Sweaty  
> \---
> 
> 5/10/2020 -- Minor corrections and additions.


	8. Ichigo Sunada's Dynamic Duos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready to rumble, Ichigo and Kip (Momo can help too...)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easing up from the previous frisky chapter, I finally get to write a fight scene! It's something I've always wanted to do, but I never really got a good chance to pull it off, so excuse me if the pacing of it is a little off.

“ _ **ROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!**_ ”

The bloodthirsty roar echoed throughout the section of the forest Ichigo finds scurrying through. The girl, still winded from the walk, is now sprinting. Her body is swaying and jumping along in her mad dash. She feels heavy, she wants to lie back down. Her makeshift undies are beginning to ride up her crack. She’s struggling to keep the scent of Kip and the mage-in-danger in her vision, sensing the auras of others is still hard for the girl to do. And yet, she can’t help but run. She can’t help but refuse all warnings to stop.

She finally made something akin to a _friend_ , a _friend_ that has been doing everything in his power to help her. And its about time she repaid the favor.

♥♥♥

“Save me, save me!” yells Momo. She delves her claws deeper into Kip’s neck, burying her face into his chest. She shakes, shivers, writhes in his arms, scared at the monster approaching the two. She doesn’t need to see it, she can feel the malicious aura coming closer and closer. It feels full of spite and wrath. It’s rushing towards them, absorbing and expelling the mist around itself at such a rapid rate, its making Momo dizzy keeping track of it. It has to be hungry, for it to be charging at two pieces of prey with such fervor. Whatever creature it is, Momo is terrified of it and its powerful aura. She deeply regrets dropping her [[Shell]].

Auras like these is why she stayed away from any battlefields, even just to cheer on her soldiers. She’s not like her father, or like Ringo. They were natural-born fighters. But she was already more like her mother, always preferring to let others do the fighting. Though even her mother used to stick by and sing for her men, back in her youth. She could rally her soldier’s fighting spirits, make sure that any monster, madmen, or rival country could do nothing to their newly-unshakable willpower. Sometimes she didn’t even need to sing, her royal aura was all that needed for everyone in her guard to give 110%.

But with Momo herself, its the opposite. She needs other to give her support, to force her to give it her all. Some would probably call her “lazy”, or “unmotivated”. But to her, she’s scared of failure. To disappoint others. Being a queen means that she would disappoint a whole country.

And being a queen on the front lines means failure would mean death.  
And if there’s anything Momo is scared of more than failure, its certainly death.

“Protect me, protect me, Milady!” Her wet body clings tighter and tighter to Kip. It only grows more and more overly-saturated as her fears begin to surface. She’s sweating up a storm, tears are running down her face, she’s starting to foam and choke on her own spit as she ramps up her screaming. Her makeup has ran all over, its making its mark on Kip’s chest. Her shaking is starting to slip off her wardrobe, her bloomers in particular, the inevitability of this malfunction growing exponentially thanks to be weighed down by her urine. She’s a mess of a princess, a girl, a ny’oni. In more ways than one.

“Ow, ow! Let go! I need you to –ow!-- let go!” Kip attempts to ready himself against the beast approaching, easier said than done without the squirming babe in his arms. “Please get behind me, madam! I need my arms, I gotta fight off this beast!” He kneels down, advocating the girl to stop choking him and give him back his torso. “Run behind me, and keep running, okay!?”

“N-no! I don’t know where to run, where to go!” screams the scared princess.

“What do you mean?!”  
“I can’t see! I’m blind!”  
“W-what?”  
“I’m blind, I’m blind, _I’m blind!_ ”  
“D-dangit, that’s not good! Uhh…”

Kip stands up, still holding the wet ny’oni in his arms. He looks around, he need to find a safe space for his, _fast._ He doesn’t need to sense the mist to know that the beast is closing in. “I-I still need my arms, I can’t hold you and fight this thing without ‘em!”

“Y-you are going to fight it?!”  
“Yeah, I will.  
“Yo-you are going to die if you do!”  
“I have no plans of dying in this spire! Besides, I can’t die twice over!”  
“W-what…?!”  
“Nevermind… Just…stick in this bush and don’t move ‘til I tell you to.”  
“W-what do I do, where do I go?!”  
“Just keep running in the direction I put you in. Stand up –you can stand up, right?-- and just keep running forward. You’ll run into my friend, I promise she’ll keep you safe!”  
“What makes you so sure?!”  
“Cause I don’t break promises! It wouldn’t be a _knightly_ thing to do, right?”

Kip realized that the girl can resist his calming aura a while ago. It has to be easy for a seasoned mage to block unknown mental effects, even down to a subconscious level. But this girl seems to really like knights. Even in this day and age, chivalry seems to bring glee to ladies like this so-called Momo. He doesn’t like lying, he never been knighted, not in this life. But its not really lying if she wants to pretend he’s some knight, especially if it would calm her down. Playing pretend is a game, and a game never hurt no one.

“R-right…! You are a knight! Knights that break promises d-d-deserve to have their heads meet the g-guil-guilotine!” Momo feels reassured enough to believe in the words of the knight. If the knight dies, then so would she, she has no choice but to believe in the trust between a knight and their princess. “I-I believe in you, Milady!”

Kip scrunches his face hearing “Milady” once more. He guesses that she feels more comfortable believing he’s a she, she can’t see his boyish appeals. Being misgendered twice in two days is a shot to the crotch of his self-image, but that is a bridge he’ll have to cross at a later date.

As for now, he has to set Momo into a bush behind the both of them and stand guard. He digs through his pocket, takes out a capsule, adopts a fighting stance, bites off the cap of it, and strikes a pose as it explodes in his palm. When the dust settles, a large scythe lies in his hands.

For what is an angel but a reaper with wings. He is the one that reaps what the many have sown, ripen, and let rot. For there must be those that can maintain the cycle of life and rebirth, and his duties include protecting those whose lives have yet to blossom.

That is the Benevolent Way.

Kip can feel the monster slowing its approach. Maybe its trying to get into position to pounce better? Maybe it realized the two split off from each other? Maybe it recognizes his great prowess? Questioning a beast’s motives won’t help him survive, so Kip begins to push these thoughts out his mind. He lets the ideas of battle flood him. The only worry he has left is that if being covered in Momo’s… excesses... would slow him down or not.

 _G_ _ulp_. The creature is right ahead, Kip can feel it. He spins, then grips his scythe in two hands and steels himself. He just needs to wait for the perfect moment.

The creature slowly unveils himself from the forest brush. Two hooves come out first, glistening white. Soon comes the rest of its deer-like body, its light-blue fur, white, fluffy mane, sapphire-like eyes, and silver horns. It drags it large, serpentine tail behind it self, coiling it around its hind legs. It stares Kip with an ire tantamount to a homeowner meeting a burglar. It’s animosity is only rivaled by its grace and majesty.

Kip stands in awe at the creature. He never seen anything like it. He expected some bug-like or wolf-like monstrosity, not this lithe, mesmerizing chimera. It sways its long neck in a slow tempo, always keeping its head directed towards the angle, almost ready to drop his guard. Creatures like it are rarity to view in Pent, even when you have a world-side view like Kip and his superiors. He rather not harm it, he feels like he would be doing the world a disservice he would slaughter such a specimen.

“H-hey, there, big fellow,” slowly speaks the scythe-wielding knight. Kip still has to protect the ny’oni girl behind him, even if he is losing the will to fight this beast. “You got cool horns, you know?” Kip fiddles with his scythe, needing to stay frosty. If it charges, he still needs to be ready to counter. “Are we in your territory? Do you want us to leave?”

The chimeric deer clops its left hoof twice, snorts, and “ _ **ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRSSSS!**_ ” once again.

“Ahhh! I thought you said you can fight it!?” screams Momo.  
“Atatatata…! No loud noises, quiet down. We don’t want to agitate him.”  
“Him!? Who cares what it is, kill the monster already!”

The majestic beast shifts its focus behind Kip, towards the screaming girl in the bush, not even looking in her vicinity. The negativity she’s giving off is making her appear to be the bigger threat.

“Whoa! Whoa…,” Kip says, trying to keep both Momo and the monster calm. He slides back into its line-of-sight, spinning his scythe, making himself appear more of a threat than Momo. “She means no harm, she is just scared.”

The creature takes little regard to Kip’s words. Keeping a lock on Momo, it gracefully leaps towards the spot Momo and Kip was staying at. Specifically, the puddle she formed. It drags its hooves on the wet spot, even marking it with an X. It roars towards the sky and snorts once more.

“H-huh?” questions Kip. “Are-are you challen-- Do you think she’s… Ah, I’ve heard about this! Momo, dear.”  
“What?! Should I run, should I run now?!”  
“No, no, he’s a little peeved. It, uh, it seems like you may have marked its territory.”  
“Huh?! Marked?! What do you mean?!”  
“Well, I know some beasties are rreaaaalllllyyyy territorial. They really don’t like when others… uhh… you know. ‘ _Do their business_ ’ where they eat and sleep in a way.”  
“W-what?” Momo begins to feel just how wet she is around her petticoat, realizing what she’s done in his stupor. “WHAT!?”  
“Quiet, quiet down! Don’t do anything rash, just stay calm. I think we just need to show that we mean no harm and just want to leave, it seems more agitated than bloodthirsty.”  
“WHO CARES!? Who cares if it thinks I am trespassing!? It is a beast, I am a lady! I can go where--” Momo bites down on her tongue just as she’s about to say _that_. Not even in her deluded state would she admit she would _go_ anywhere she would want. _“_ Just kill it already!”  
“We really don’t have to. I think we can just leave, okay? Do you want to be here?” Kip begins to speak sternly towards the girl, his patience is starting to wear thin.  
“N-no…”  
“Do you want me to protect you, like a knight should?”  
“Y-yes, Milady.” Momo can feel herself falling back into her little princess act. “P-please protect me, Milady.”  
“Right, right… Now, I’m going to tell you what we can do. I’m going to walk back, pick you up, and leave the area. If we do it swift, yet carefully enough, it would see us as respecting its home and leave us alone.”  
“Are you sure it won’t attack us, Milady?”  
“If we do this right, it shouldn’t.”

Kip walks back, always keeping his eyes on the beast. He takes Momo back into a bridal carry, feeling all her cooling wet spots. ‘ _Urgh… She’s so sticky. And heavy…_ ,’ he thinks to himself. The creature keeps its gaze on the two, but doesn’t move from its spot. They seem to recognize its might and authority as king of the forest level.

“The both are you are happy? None of us wants to be here, okay?” says Kip towards the beast. “You have a name?”

“Why are you asking the beast for a name, Mila--” Momo doesn’t get to finish her thought before she feels something assaulting her aura, almost like a commandment. It freezes Kip in his tracks, worried that its capitalizing on his defenselessness. But instead, he feels like the both of them gained new knowledge in their thoughts.

“Y-your name is Bartely?” asks Kip.  
The creatures taps it right hoof.  
“You are an… ulvir?”  
He taps it once more.  
“You some kind of guardian? Of this stratum, right?”  
Tap.  
“And you were… made by your master?”  
Tap.  
“How are you doing this?”

All the thoughts Kip has, Momo has twice-fold. She holds her head, wincing in pain. It's enough to rattle her into leaking just a few more drops into her already-drenched bloomers. “It’s-Its aura. We’re trapped in it, it’s asserting its will on u-- on u-- on us, ahh… Stop yelling, stop yelling!”

Momo’s own yelling startles Kip, nearly dropping her as she claws into the angle. “Ow, ow, okay, okay. We’re leaving, that’s to the both of you.”

The ulvir slams both its hooves and its tail on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt. It doesn’t need to scribe its will into the aura to let the duo know it won’t let them leave, not yet.

“S-shoot, whoa. What gives? We really don’t have to fight each other.”  
Tap tap tap tap.  
“Whatcha mean I’ve ‘wronged its ground’?!” asks the irate princess. “Is this about—well I’m telling you, this isn’t my fault!”  
Tap tap tap tap.  
“No, I won’t apologize! I will hold no responsibility for soiling you-your… soil! You are the ones who trapped me here! You should be glad my men haven’t eradicated you and your master! I would be using your horns as a backscratcher!”  
SNORT! Slam!  
“Hey, hey… Can we just calm down!?”  
“NO!”“ROOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!”

The ulvir holds its head down and barrels forward, towards the defenseless Kip! He dives, Momo in hand, out the way!

“Oh, diplomacy… Why are you a dying art…?” solemnly cries Kip as he picks himself up and dusts himself off. Grabbing his scythe, he spins the blade towards the ulvir.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! It’s going to kill us! It’s gonna break us like toothpicks and gnaw on our brains!!” screams Momo, still on the ground, cowering.  
“Can it even do that?” Kip asks, confused at her paranoia.  
“I don’t want to find out, Milady! Kill it, kill it now!”  
“Well, you heard the lady. You won’t let us leave, so I guess… she can’t let you live.”

The ulvir drags its hooves on the ground, ready for battle. Kip stares dead ahead, free from fear and nervousness. Readying his scythe, he charges towards the ulvir! It retaliates by lunging forward, stopping, and swinging its tail towards the angel boy! Kip’s forced to block the tail swipe, pushing him back with a good deal of kinetic force. But it isn’t enough to stop his relentless assault as he thrusts forward the shaft of his scythe! It stuns the ulvir, enough for Kip to spin his scythe and sweep its legs!

 _Slash!!_ Kip draws first blood as he gets a good slice against the ulvir’s hind quarters!

“ARRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!!” it shouts towards the sky. It did not like that. It starts to take its foe seriously as it horns begin to light up, turning from white to silver!

“Ah! Look out, milady knight!” screams Momo, not even facing the right direction. “It’s preparing a spell!”

“Hmm… Curious, the beast here know how to spell cast,” ponders Kip. ‘The few foes I faced previously lacked such capabilities, why does this one know how?’

Before he could more lost in his own thoughts, surges of water, dyed silver, form all over each branch of the ulvir’s horns! _Tchash! Tchash! Tchasch! Tscasch!_ It fires each shot individual, as fast streams of water! Each blast has enough force to rattle the trees upon impact, Kip has to bend and contort his body to avoid each shot, less he ends up with a hole in his chest!

_Tcasch!_

“Argh!”

The final blast clips Kip in his right wing, knocking him off his feet, dropping his scythe!

“Milady!” screams Momo, managing to sense a blast of watery mist connect against the soothing light.

The scythe slide out of Kip’s reach, towards the forest! Kip doesn’t have the time to react losing his weapon, he has to roll out the way of another charge! He ends up further away from it, as it slides into the brush! “Dangit, dangit!” reprimands the angel, picking himself up off the dirt floor. His wing is only a little bruised, but his assurance in this fight is lost without his scythe. He needs a weapon, fast!

Looking around, he finds noth-- "Eureka!" Something he can use!

He scurries away, making sure he can reach it in time, before the ulvir can fire more shots at it! Each blast goes behind Kip, missing its mark by wide margins that are quickly closing in. But it doesn’t let him stop from grabbing the first thing he can use to turn the tides of this battle.

Momo’s fan!

Snagging it for himself, he swings it fully open in one hand! “Let’s see if I remember how to do this, right!”

“Do what, milady!? What’s happening, why is your aura feeling different?” begs Momo, trying to keep her presence low, compared to her curiosity.

Kip ignores her calls as he strikes a pose, holding his right foot in a crane stance. He shuts the fan closed, making sure that the innards aren’t fried as he begins to turn up the heat in his hands!

“[ **HEAT WAVE—BURST!]** ” shouts Kip, swinging open the fan once more, arcing across a wave of pure heat energy towards the ulvir. This flaming cutter moves fast, much faster than it can dodge! It scrapes against the fierce guardian’s face, scorching it! It topples over, unable to keep its balance from its hasty maneuver and the blazing attack! A normal [[Heat Wave]] wouldn't have travelled like that, even with the Burst aspect attached to it. But Momo's fan gives it enough of an arc to glide off of, making a wave of power that can sever even the tightest of binds!

“Don’t say you didn’t ask for this!” taunts Kip, ready for the finishing blow! “I just wanted to leave, but you picked the fight with the wrong knight!”

He charges forward, fan in hand! He preps more flaming energy on its top, as he prepares another slice, one that shall be the coup de grace! Just as he closes the distance, the ulvir strikes, firing another bullet of water towards Kip! _Tsasch!_

“Whoa!” He narrowly avoids having his head blown off, dodging at the last second! But as he recovers, the shot bounces off the tree trunk behind him! It ricochets, firing straight into Kip’s back! “ARGH!”

Kip looses his balance, tripping over the ulvir and falling face first! Injured, he struggles to get back on his feet in time! The ulvir has recovered, and its charging up its own finisher!

“No!”

“Milady!”

“Kipppp!”

A girl’s voice, foreign to the ulvir, echoes! The girl charges blindly, her stomach making it the first to cross the finish line and into the danger zone. She throws her weight onto the beast, tackling it! She drops it onto the ground as the wrathful woman digs her claws into its flesh!

Ichigo has knocked it down!

“Haha! Nice job!” cheers Kip! “Keep it still, got it!?”  
“G-got it!? Agh! S-stay down! S-stay d-down, waah! Hurry, stop it!”

The tackle hurt Ichigo's shoulder. The thrashing is making it hard to keep her grip! She's scared, she doesn't know why she did what she did! All she knows that Kip was in danger, and she couldn't hide in the bushes any longer, like a scared little girl! She needed to do anything to help, and it looked like it payed dividends!

Kip rushes to grab his scythe, its metal blade glistening into view! Re-equipped with an actual weapon, he takes a three-point stance, towards the ulvir!

“Ichi, when I say ‘Let go!’, let go! Do not keep holding onto him!”

“I-I—AH! I don’t know how much longer I—I can hold him down! WAH!” Ichigo is kicked and beaten by the ulvir’s thrashing!  
“Not a second more!”

Kip rushes forwards, letting his wings guide him! Holding the scythe, he drags it over the ground, against the ulvir and Ichigo!

“Let! Go!”

Kip collides into Ichigo, holding her as he drags his scythe across its body! It leaves a ghastly gash, ethereal in nature! The ulvir can feel its lifeforce draining, returning back towards its creators!

“Victo—ACK!”

Kip skirts across and lands on the ground with a THUD, smothering himself into Ichigo’s body. He struggles to pick himself back up, involuntarily groping the girl every time he tries to find some leverage.

“S-stop, Mr. Kip. Pl-please… N-not the--, ah~!”  
“Sorry, sorry!” Kip says, muffled in Ichigo’s sternum. He manages to pick up his head! “Gosh, you are a fluffy girl!”  
“F-fluffy? W-what’s that supposed t-t-t-t-to--!?” Ichigo blushes a red that rivals roses.

Kip takes Ichigo by her hand and _heaves_ her up while she covers her face with her other arm. The two then watch the ulvir thrash about, trying to maintain what it can of its soul. Kip wields his scythe once more and spins it behind his head. He walks up towards his kill, and kneels besides it.

“I wish I could have given you a cleaner cut. Sorry, big guy. I hope you have a better time, in another life.”

Kissing two fingers, he touches them towards the head of the ulvir. He stands, keeping his head lowered. He cuts through the ulvir with his scythe, pulling and dragging the rest of its spirit from its body. Each spiritual connection _snaps_ off, like buttons off a pair of suspenders. The ulvir stops moving, its aura dissipates away as Kip clutches its spirit in the palm of his hand. He crushes it, and then scatters the remains in the wind.

“Sayonora, buddy! See you soon!”

The spirit particles fly away, towards the sky. Kip waves them away, giving off a pleasant smile. Ichigo sneaks behind him, once again having her soon-to-be-trademarked look of confusion plastered on her face.

“Uhm… What are you doing?”  
“Saying my thanks, you know? You got to give your thanks to those who give you a good fight, especially if it was to the death.”  
“It’s...it’s dead?”  
“Yeah.”  
“…”  
“You helped, you know? Why don’t you wave with me?”  
“...”

Ichigo thinks it through, soon joining Kip with her shy, slow farewells. She feels awkward about it, seeing something killed right in front. Something she knows she helped with. Is this what the soldiers in her military novels feel like, when they cut down their first opponent?

“HELLO!? Is it dead yet?! Are you dead, milady?!”

A screeching harpy shouts within the vicinity, breaking Ichigo out her concentration. Momo has grown impatient, her foot been tapping on the ground as she slumps more and more into the bush. She’s starting to make an imprint in her leafy throne.

“Oh, sorry, Momo! I’m coming!” replies Kip, a little embarrassed at actually forgetting the lady-quite-literally-waiting.  
“That’s PRINCESS Momo to you! How can any knight be such a knave!? I thought you were dead!”  
“Can’t you sense aura, how did you thought I was dead?”  
“I wanted to stop, that creature is terrifying! I do NOT want to see it chew you up into itty-bitty pieces, tearing your aura asunder! _Urghgh!”  
_ “ _You…_ certainly have an active imagination, princess.”  
“Now please, hurry and pick me up. I’m _exhausted…”  
_ “Right away… _Sigh.”_

Kip looks a little black-and-blue, beaten down by everything, though its hard to tell from Ichigo’s point-of-view whether it was from the deer monster or the fox ny’oni with an attitude problem. She follows the lad, watching him struggle to lift the girl up off her leafy throne and claw her way straight into his neck. She watches him wince, as she must have hit a sore spot that was gained from that battle.

“Uhm… Do you want--” she tries to say. Her nerves are starting to grow, in the face of the new stranger and her ghastly face-paint. “Do you want me to carry her, Mr. Kip?”  
“Huh? Who’s that? _Mister_ Kip?!” cries Momo, puzzled at the entity behind Kip. She sniffs the area, turning back on her aura sense for a few moments, realizing the new aura in her “sight”. “State your name and business! Are you a fellow knight!?”  
“Uhm, what? Uh-uh…! Eeeep!”  
“Why is your aura so familiar? Who are you!? If you intend to harm me, I’ll have you know that my entourage is near, ready to slay you where you stand! Speak!”  
Ichigo shivers, the commanding presence coming off from the girl is making her beyond anxious! “I—I-I am…! I am…!”  
“Easy, easy, the both of you!” Kip shouts, not wanting for both to go into conniptions. “Princess, this is my friend--” Kip bites on his lip. He realizes the mistake it would be to give out her name, especially in the state Momo is in. She doesn’t seem to keen on meeting--  
“Ichigo! My name is Ichigo, please don’t hurt me!” cries the scared Sunada, intimidated by the irate one.  
“Ooh, dear…”

Momo’s ears perk straight up. She can feel a blood vessel emerge on her forehead as she hears the name. She thrust herself off of Kip as her ferocity grows. “I DID NOT HEAR WHAT I THOUGHT I JUST HEARD!” She picks herself off the ground, paying no mind to her dirty bottom as she marches towards the cowering girl. “’ _Don’t hurt me’!? ‘_ _ **DON’T HURT ME!?**_ _’_ You the one saying this, Iiichhiiigooo!? I have the highest royal authority to beat you senseless, you sniveling coward! And then beat you more ‘til you send me back home!”

“Ahhh! St-stay away!” shouts Ichigo, hopping back and preparing to run for her life!  
“You will go nowhere!”  
“Stop it, Momo! Ichigo, calm down!” Kip shouts, trying in vain to calm the both down!”  
“Milady, don’t you dare defend this—this WITCH! She has you charmed, she put a spell on you, I see! I’ll dispel it after I beaten this girl black and blue!”  
“Waaaah!” Ichigo tries to run, only managing to slip on a wet spot of mud and fall down!  
“Take! Me! Back! Home!” the irate fox-girl shouts, flailing her arms, trying to claw at the “witch”.

“Hey, chill out!” Kip rushes the girl, holding her by her arms.  
“Don’t you touch me, knave!”  
“Oh, _NOW_ you don’t want me to touch you!”  
“[ **Mini-Shell!** ]” With quick breath, a sphere of power forms around Momo, pushing Kip off and down on the ground! It breaks just as quickly, as she pounces onto Ichigo in her raw fury!

...Only to overshoot and land face-first into the mud, in front of the crown princess, paralyzed by panic. The weight and shape of her crinolines prevent her from picking herself up easily, but her anger gives her enough of a power surge to stand back up! Ichigo stares face-to-blind-face with the angriest Sunada she’s ever seen.

“I-I-I…!”  
“Save your words for your trial-by-fire, witch! Now, you will suffer the wrath of eight generations of Sunadas! [ **Kudzu Kage**!]”

Momo takes a hard breath and slams her foot into the mud! Grass begins to form around it, which soon sprout vines that wrap around Ichigo’s wrists, ankles, and tails!

“AAAAHHHHH! PLEASE, I’M INNOCENT! SAVANNA, HELP ME!!”  
“Sil— _cough cough!_ \--Silence!” Momo awkwardly grabs at Ichigo’s head, finding and pulling on a braid. Her tight grip and forceful tug rattles Ichigo with malicious intent!  
“AAGH! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME!” Tears are once again running down Ichigo’s eyes as her hair is pulled!  
“Sunadas never forgive! Not without com! Pen! Sa! Tion!” _Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!_ _Thwack!_ Momo tries to clobber Ichigo on the back of her head, whiffing each strike wider and wider 'til she finally lands a blow!  
“ _ **Miyuu!!**_ ” At this point, Ichigo can do nothing but cry in anguish!

“You-you – _cough cough cough!!_ ” Momo breaks down into a coughing fit, one that breaks all her focus! The vines around Ichigo quickly rot away, freeing her! She tries to scamper away, before she gains more knots on the back of her head!

“No you-- _cough!_ _Cough!!_ ” Momo manages to grab Ichigo by the back of her pants, pulling on them with one hand while the other hand covers her mouth. She pulls back, pulling free a few stitches from both her pants and her underwear! Ichigo whines with another “ _ **Miyuu!!**_ ”, feeling the popping of each strand of her makeshift training pants zap against her behind!

“You! You!!” Momo manages to get a few good _smack!_ _ **Smack! SMACKS**_ against Ichigo’s cheeks! Strong enough for Ichigo to cry out “ _ **MIYUUU**_!!” one more time she brush a tail against Momo’s face, kick forward, and escape her half-sister’s weak grip! She scampers towards Kip, finally managing to get back off the ground before being tackled back down onto it! She cowers onto his chest, crying and mewling at her sisterly abuse! “WHY ME!?”

“Calm down, calm down, Ichigo!” demands Kip, wanting to get the heavy girl off of his chest. “Momo, knock it off! She had enough, you don’t have to treat her like that!”

“That’s PRIN— _COUGH COUGH!! COUGH! **HRK! COUGH! COUGH! HUURKK!!**_ ” Karma has a field day with the eldest Sunada, forcing her into another coughing fit that leads to her spitting up all over herself! As if she couldn’t gotten any more dirtier, any more wetter, nature finds a way! “ _Ouuughhhh, why me!?”_ Momo, disgusted and exhausted, falls back, the mud caressing her and finally cooling her down.

“Ichi—Ichigo, I need you to get off of me,” Kip tries to say, the weight of the young princess being too much for him to breathe properly. Though, compared to Ichigo, hyperventilating and completely inconsolable, and Momo, choking on her own spit, he’s definitely the luckiest out of the three.

“Wh-wh-why me…?!” the Sunadas cry in unison, each in different degrees of agony. Ichigo’s pants took the brunt of Momo’s blows, but her buttocks are still rather sore, given that she’s never been disciplined like that before. Momo’s throat is raw and hoarse, her dehydration, exhaustion, and mist burnout taking the majority of her punishment. Both are muddied from head-to-toe, whether its coming from the blasts of water of the ulvir or Momo’s release. Ichigo hugs tightly against Kip, fearing her life and wanting some form of protection. Momo struggles to find anything to pick herself up, thrashing about, anything to protect her. “Why me, why me, why me…!?”

The sorry sight further exasperates the exhausted celestial envoy. He grunts as he tosses Ichigo off of him, nuzzling the poor girl. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...,” she won’t stop repeating.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, cutie…,” Kip reassures the girl, easing the girl as she passes out from all the stimulation... “Now, _her,_ on the other hand…,” he scoffs.

Momo struggles to breathe, she can’t! Her throat feels itchy, coarse, growing tighter and tighter, closing by the second. She writhes against the ground, her body feeling ever more hotter! She sweats, she ails, she burns! She lies painfully on her side, her wet crinolines digging into her hips. “Mama… help me…” she says, as she finally faints from her worst day imaginable…

“ _ **Augggghh…,**_ ” groans Kip. ‘ _Of course she faints, of COURSE they both faint. How am I the one that fights a rabid chimera and THEY are the ones that need to be carried back?_ ’

♥♥♥

The sun has begun to set as Momo Sunada rests inside a tent. Protected from the sun, her sunburn doesn’t grow worse, but it doesn’t stop the fever that has broken out. She breathes heavily, she’s well aware of what she’s feeling. Burnout, something she hasn’t suffered in a very long time, not since she started practicing magic. Her palms, soles, and throat burns, and being swaddled in a sleeping bag, damp as it is, isn’t helping.

“Are you awake? Do you – do you need some water? -- _Cough cough!_ ” A hoarse voice cries from within the darkness of the tent.

But what really hurts is having to rest right next to her least favorite person in the world at this rate. Ichigo lies opposite of her, laying on her stomach. Her feet are currently near Momo’s head, as if she WANTS to see her unwashed feet and untrimmed claws. Her burnout is nowhere near as bad as Momo, but the fact she has any just shows how inexperienced she is at this whole magic dealio. A headache has grown, from both the wallop Momo has dealt her and her prolonged aura sensing. The dull pain keeps her from getting a healthy rest, as much as her raw butt is preventing her from sleeping on her back. She knows with how well-endowed she is, lying on her stomach is a punishment all on its own right.

Ichigo gets on her knees, turning to face Momo. “Open wide,” she says, ready to wring out a rag of Evergrace. Momo silently opens her jaw agape, ready for more water to be ran down her throat. With a tight squeeze, the blue water squishes out and pours down Momo’s face, a good deal of it running down her neckline. She’s glad that her makeup is gone now, albeit this is the only thing she can take anything approaching joy from at the moment. She hates how they have no canteen, how sloppy this is, how she is having this done by her younger “sister”. She hates how she can’t argue, can’t fight it, her throat won’t let her deny any soothing. She hates how she’s so weak, so feeble, hating is the only thing giving her strength at the moment.

Hate is how she survived for so long. And she doesn’t like being such a hateful person. But the world just gives her so, so many things to hate.

“...W-where…,” she hoarsely groans under her breathe, a complete sentence being foreign to her. “Where is...my dress…?”  
“I-it’s...uhh…It’s drying,” Ichigo mumbles.  
“Don’t lie to me…”  
“Please don’t speak, Mr. Kip says you shouldn’t be speaking, it’s not good for you.”  
"You’ve...ruined my dress...you witch…”

Ichigo can’t disagree. When she woke up, back at the lake, Kip needed help trying to free her from her deathtrap of a dress. She thought her ceremonial dress robe was a torture device, Momo’s was an oven! Given that neither of them knew how it work, much less how anyone could get her in it, she had to strip her down, tear away the fabric, pop off the corset, do everything in their power to free her. If they wanted to get the unconscious girl a bath, to cool her down, they needed to separate her from her garbs ASAP, else she might have suffered from sunstroke!

So here Momo lies, in the nude. Her training bra, corset, and piss-stained bloomers were all that they could recover. Kip said that he might be able to make her something, but its going to take all night. Her flat chest and voluptuous behind will just have to cool down and go without ‘em. Ichigo is scared. How could she have known what have happened? Does she know she had to do what they've done?! What will she do now!? 

“You...you ruined my dress…”  
“I’m—I’m sorry. I’m really am…”  
“You… made me pee in it…”  
“...Huh?”  
“You –cough cough-- brought me here… Made me wait all night alone… Made me have to go… all over myself…”  
“I-I think you need some more water. You don’t sound right…” Ichigo sighs in a bit of relief. She doesn't seem to know about the state of her dress. She wonders if she even realizes she's stripped down to her bare essentials.  
“ _Errrgggghhhhhh…!_ ”  
“At-at least you aren’t accident-prone. THINK you aren’t accident-prone. You-you aren’t accident-prone, I am! No! I’m not accident-prone, Mr. Kip just...just thinks I’m accident-prone cause…Uh…”  
If Momo could open her eyes, she would give Ichigo the sharpest of death glares.  
“W-well, in any case, if I did, I-I’m sorry. I don’t know how or wh-why I’m here. Or you…”  
“Then b-bring me back…”  
“If-if I could, I would. -- _Cough!--_ I don’t want to be here. I really don’t. -- _Sniff!_ \-- I don’t even know you enough to want to bring you here, if I-I could…”  
“…”  
“I wanna go home…” Ichigo lies back down, this time facing parallel to Momo’s head. She winces in pain, her buns still raw from Momo’s hand. “I’m so tired…”  
“...You…”  
“Hmm…?”  
“You...call yourself the daughter of Mama…Mama Anzu...”  
“Y-yeah?”  
“...Nothing…”

Ichigo dreads to think what she was trying to say.

♥♥♥

The two find themselves alone in their thoughts, their conversation having long drawn to an unsettling end. It’s a thought that lays heavy on her for the next few hours, well before she’s able to drift to sleep. With only one sleeping bag, Ichigo has to sleep on the tarp ground. It’s not all that bad, but to a princess like her, she really can do much, much better.

...A princess like her…

Ichigo unzips the tent, the moon towering above their campsite near the lake. Kip’s wings glow in the dark dimly, as his sowing fingers get to work at making clothes for their temperamental new guest, near the edge of the forest. A bruise covers part of the right wing, blocking part of the amount of light that is able to come off.

“Mr. Kip…?” Ichigo says silently.

No response.

“Mr Kip?” she says, a bit louder. She freezes as she hears tumbling within the tent, praying to the gods that she didn’t reawaken her elder half-sister.  
“Hmm? Ichigo…? Still up?”  
“Not really… Just going to sleep now… I think…”  
“Okay then, good night then…”  
“Good ni—Wait…!” Some more rustling, another freeze by Ichigo.  
“Yes…?”  
Ichigo waits a few more seconds for Momo to go back asleep before saying “I-I just wanted to say thank you…”  
“I’m the one that should be thanking you. I’d be a goner without your help.”  
“I wouldn’t have known something was coming if you didn’t help me open my cores…”  
“Haha, well before this chain gets any more silly, how about we agree to disagree and say that we helped each other, and we deserve each other’s thanks? So, thank you, you are welcome.”  
“Thank you…? You are welcome…?”  
“Thata girl… Oh, I do have a question for you.”  
“Hmm…?”  
“You really are a princess? And is she really your sister?”  
“...Maybe...and I think…”  
“Well that sounded unsure…”  
“I am, but I don’t think its nothing to be proud of… And yes, she is, but I don’t think she likes me as such…”  
“Hey, I say they both are to be proud of. I don’t have any siblings! And I’m certainly not royalty! Should I call you ‘Princess Ichigo’ or something?”  
“I…If you would like…”  
“I think you might like it, so I’ll like it, Princess.”

Ichigo can’t help but blush at hearing that said so cheerfully. She’s embarrassed, ashamed, and proud to find someone respect her as a princess, outside of her entourage. It’s something she doesn’t get to hear to often. It almost drives her to tears.

“Anyway, get some rest, Princess Ichigo. I’m gonna be at this all night, I would like to focus. I got plenty more questions to ask you, but they can wait 'til the morning.”  
“Oh, okay… Good night, Mr. Kip. You are… a nice person… A nice friend...”  
Kip smiles. Now THAT’S a reward for a knight with a hard fought day, and long day’s night. “Good night, Princess Ichigo…” He chuckles to himself, happy that her magical barriers aren’t the only walls that are coming down.

Now Ichigo just embarrassed. She lies next to her sister, her buns finally easing up on her. Momo has turned away from Ichigo, not wanting to face her in any capacity, even if there is no way she’ll be able to see her. Ichigo thinks to herself, about having to find that other mage, about how there was a monster up here all along, about how she’s going have to deal with her sister.

Another busy day lies right on the horizon. And dwelling on that isn’t helping her get to sleep…

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo's Underwear: Makeshift Training Pants (Damaged)


	9. Sunada-Styled Sisterhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family is a bridge that cannot be burnt.  
> Besides, with the Sunadas, it might be too wet to...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm happy to see the great reception to Gut Check, and the patience of everyone for the newest chapter of Ichigo! To offset the wait, I made this one extra-long and spicy! I think at this point, I've proven that I can definitely win NaNoWriMo this November! But enough tooting my own horn, you guys' waited long enough!
> 
> Oh, and thank you for reach 1200+ hits on Ichigo Sunada, everyone!

“Meewwnn…”

It’s late at night at the campsite near the lake, and Ichigo cannot sleep. Awakened from another nightmare, the same one from last night, by a constant groaning, she feels like sleep isn’t in her grasp. The cold night has hit her harder than she thought she could handle, the fear of falling into another nightmare has been keeping her wired and anxious, and she’s regretting giving her sleeping bag to her elder sister. Would be regretting, as Momo has changed her stance on sharing the bag… in her sleep.

“Ewwwnnn…,” snores the diminutive fox-girl, as she holds Ichigo down, lying on top her. She nuzzles Ichigo’s belly, as if she’s searching for the cool side of a down pillow. Ichigo “Oof...!” quietly, making sure that she doesn’t awaken her half-sister.

Momo, still in her burnt out state, gives off enough heat to keep Ichigo somewhat toasty through the cold night. And Ichigo can imagine she must be cold enough to keep Momo from overheating in her current predicament. She’s surprised to see her sister to be such a wild sleeper, constantly tossing and twirling and groaning, looking for the most comfortable place to rest in for the next 15 minutes or so. The dance of hot-and-cold between the sleepy Sunadas would be cute for Ichigo, especially for seeing the calm, vulnerable, cute side of her sister, with all her curling and moaning, were it not for a growing pressure down under.

Momo’s weight pushes down on Ichigo’s girth, exasperating her growing need to pee. The cold air and her indulgence in Evergrace earlier as kick-started her bladder, and over the course of the long night, its fluid counts has only grown. It’s not the first time Ichigo has suffered from being snuggled while her bladder pangs, but she is caught off-guard by how rapidly the pain has been increasing. She tries to hold herself, rub her fat thighs together, but with Momo on top of her, she struggles to reach and control her body.

“Ooo…,” whines Ichigo, adding to the moaning within the tent. She really doesn’t want to wake up Momo. Outside of it being a rude thing to do, she does not have the good will with the girl to spare. She runs through all sorts of scenarios in her head, terrified of all the ways the lass would explode at her and cause her an undue amount of grief. Yelling at her, assaulting at her, spanking her again, the thought of another person, especially someone that is supposed to be close to her by blood, being so cross at her drives her to some tears. She shivers, wondering how much it is driven by her growing anxieties, the cold air, or her aching privates. Ichigo is starting to wish that she was back in her nightmare, for at least she could say she was asleep.

Ichigo has to get out of this predicament, as gracefully as a cat in the night.

Ichigo begins to arch her back like a lift, trying to see if Momo would naturally slide off of her stomach. Momo, being slick with sweat, begins to drift down Ichigo’s left side. It is enough to get her head onto the tarp floor of the tent, leaving her arms on top. Yes…! She’s making progress, just as another wave of pain forces her to flop back down her back and clutch herself with one arm! It was sudden enough that she nearly clawed herself, something that would have definitely forced her to wet herself on the spot! The padding of her undies was enough to soften the blow, giving her just enough of a reminder as to what she was doing.

Ichigo winces, then soon sighs. She wonders how much more her “dam” could take. Something within her is telling her that “repair work” was still underway, and it can’t suffer the same amount of punishment as she has been putting it through over the past few days. She hasn’t drank much other than lake water and Evergrace, two substances that would easily flow straight through her already, but it can’t have been enough to force this level of pain.

She can’t dwell on this, it is only wasting time and keeping her up. Right now, she needs to put 100% of her thinking power in moving Momo off without waking her. Then she could escape the tent, cross the night, and dispose of her liquids. Then she could go back to sleep, ready to face the nightmares within… She begins to grab Momo’s arm, the one hanging onto her puffy breasts. Ichigo can feel how clean-shaven her arms are, just how smooth her skin is, in comparison to her furry, fuzzy appendages. Remnants of copious amounts of lotion and talcum powder has kept her hands in a rather pristine condition, feeling baby soft to the touch. Even the few strands of fur that has started to regrow over the course of her imprisonment within the spire feels well-groomed, as if the heat, the cold, and the sweat has done nothing to weather all of her handiwork on her hands. If Ichigo had the time and Momo wouldn’t kill her for asking, she would love to just hold hands with her sister, feeling the gentleness within each palm for all their worth. It’s almost a tragedy to her to move it off, but urges are urges, and they are only growing more urgent.

With her body, her head, and one arm off, Ichigo almost feels confident enough to just rush on out. She can feel the next wave growing in power, and an ill feeling is starting to overcome her stomach. She hopes its just the stress and tension of the situation, and not that she is coming down with something horrible. The dire thoughts being to break her concentration as she takes hold of Momo’s other arm, lodging right on top of her pelvis, making it difficult to keep grip with it. Ichigo is forced to hold her breath as she slowly diffuse the ticking time-bomb attached to her chest. Her jittering and Momo’s sweaty palms causes her to slip her grip! Momo’s falling arm slaps Ichigo on her stomach!

“Urgh!” cries Ichigo, her raw belly not liking the additional force!  
“Nnugggh…!” moans Momo, feeling her rest being disturbed!

Ichigo covers her mouth as Momo rises up! Continuing to hold her breath, she watches as Momo investigate the tent. The royal runt sniffs the air, her head woozily tilting back and forth as she does so. Ichigo struggles to hold her breath, fearing the worst has arrived. Any minute now, Momo will start causing a ruckus, and without Kip at her back, Momo would be able to do anything and everything to her in the name of raw vengeance. ‘ _Go back to sleep go back to sleep go back to sleep!_ ’ races the scared princess’ mind as Momo turns her attention to her. Ichigo’s uncontrollable urge to scream and hyperventilate, her need to urinate, and her wailing, gurgling gut all begin to fight to the finish. One of the three will win, and it won’t be pretty in any scenario.

Ichigo feels ill in so many ways now.

“...There you are, pillow…” coos Momo, giving a dopey smile to towards Ichigo’s direction. She slips out of the slipping bag, enough to wrap an arm and a leg around the wide girl. Snuggling their heads next to each other, Momo sighs in relief, feeling comforted for the first time in a long while. She resumes snoring with a hearty “Zzzz…,” another beauty sleep rightfully earned in her dreary and tired mind.

…

It’s been a good few minutes now that Momo has fallen back to sleep, and Ichigo has grown all the more terrified. With Momo’s current position, it’s going to take every bit of willpower just to get one of her arms off! She hugging the girl so snugly, she’s starting to remind Ichigo of Savanna! She worries that Momo can feel her heart racing, ready to thump straight out of her sternum! Her leg is kneeing straight into her privates, pushing her training pants straight into her privates, letting the cotton kiss the droplets that are forming. Her gut growls audibly as Ichigo can feel both her tail growing rigid, preparing themselves from the storm that is about to be released!

‘No, no, no…!’ cries the lady in anguish, as her bottom cheeks spread open and lets loose a hearty “ _ **BRAWWWWPPTT!!**_ ” underneath her! It’s enough to even lift her slightly up, albeit by the way of her twin tails not wanting to be near her backside. Ichigo holds her nose, the stench overwhelming the tent in an instant. The blast was enough to lodge forth a spurt into her training pants, necessitating her thighs putting in the effort of squeezing her bladder and asserting her dominance over her own body. The cotton absorbs what she lets loose, enough that she doesn’t feel the ounce of liquid she had let go, but she isn’t worried about that. Ichigo is worried if her grossness has caused Momo any distress, enough to start wailing in the night and on her. She closes her eyes, prepared for the worst…

Only for Momo to snuggle even more into her, rubbing her tummy.

“...Don’t cry…” she coos, not realizing anything that has happened in the past minute. “Mama Anzu… will take care…”

Ichigo wants to cry, actually. She wants to cry a lot. She’s in a lot of pain, from her urges, from her heart, from her burnout. She is so afraid, of the night, of her sister, of her nightmares. She feels like she’s lost control, over her life, over her agency, over her bladder. She sniffles, tears start to water over her eyes. How many times has she cried over the course of the past few days? She amazes herself with just how much fluid is inside her, she would think that she would have cried away all her tears at this point, especially for someone that is technically “of age”. But technically, she isn’t, meaning to her she still has a childhood’s worth of tears still ready to flow down her cheeks.

But soon Momo whimpers her own set of tears. “Ngh… Please mama… Come…” The protectiveness and caring aura she was giving off soon faded away, replaced with terrified chills and shivers, much like what her younger sister suffered from the night prior. Her bushy fox tail skitters erratically within the sleeping bag, she claws deep into Ichigo’s flesh, she cries, she whines, she moans. She’s going through all the stages of night terrors, something Ichigo is beginning to know all too well at this point. Seeing her elder sister in this state is enough to keep Ichigo crying to herself, but only for a few more seconds. She sniffles one last time as she brings an arm around Momo and pulls her into herself tighter, rubbing her back and nuzzling her head. Ichigo may be younger, but they both need some tender loving care from family, if they wish to survive this long night together.

Ichigo stops rubbing as she feels another wave rock her, causing her to spill some more drops into her undies. She needs to go now, but Momo needs someone now more than ever. Ichigo relents that she has to wet the bed again and deal with the fallout in the morning, probably having Momo yell and scream about how immature and gross the mutt is. It’s enough to make her ill, more ill than her stomach and “dam” feels, enough to cancel out the comfort of Momo’s caressing. But Momo, who is pressing her knee harder into Ichigo’s nethers, reminds of something:

Her undies are made for this sort of thing.

Ichigo contemplates this as she feels another wave begins to grow, right on top of her dam. Momo won’t let go without waking her up. Ichigo doesn’t want to wake her, or even let go of Momo in her terrified, nightmare-stricken state. If she keeps holding it, her “dam” will only grow angrier and angrier, never letting her fall asleep. And that’s if she can keep holding it, as she feels she doesn’t have the strength to spare over the course of the night, against Momo’s prodding, or if another gas attack happens. And if she could hold it, there’s no guarantee that the makeshift training pants could even hold a full night’s supply.

But if she does do the deed right now, she has to put up with Momo… in the morning.

Ichigo is ashamed that there is no contest to this. With that, right as another wave was about to reach the apex of power, ready to deliver a shockwave of unbearable anguish right into her nethers, Ichigo holds her breath and widens her thighs, opens her lower hole, and releases the floodgates of her “dam”.

_Psssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!_

“Augh…~~,” moans Ichigo. Her training pants begin to bloat with liquid, the cloth and cotton catching much of her mess. She feels them growing heavier and heavier, making it difficult to close her legs all the way. She can feel the warmth her pee is radiating, giving her a much needed temperature boost in the chilly night. She’s glad she is on her back, as she worries that the contents could slip through one of her leg holes. She sighs in relief, as she’s happy that at least one of her ailments have left her.

But she soon begins to feel liquid beginning to slide down her leg! The micro-tears her training pants have suffered left just enough vulnerabilities for her urine to seep into her poofy pants! “Agh…, augh…!” she whines, hoping to stop herself before her liquids spread out and into Momo! She slips one of her tails as a divider between the two girls and clutches her crotch! She presses the warm, sticky underwear into herself, not being able to grab and stop her bladder! Her “dam” can’t close the floodgates fast enough! ‘ _Shoot shoot shoot! Stop stop stop! I beg you!_ ’ her head space cries in the night.

And for once, her panic has rewarded herself. Her stream stops, dead in its tracks. Her belly doesn’t feel as taught, her legs are only a little damp. She does feel like she still needs to pee, but it isn’t the dire flood that was going to ruin the tent and what constitutes as a sisterly relationship. Ichigo does hope that she would wake up first, so she can take a bath before Momo would realize something is amiss. Momo pets her belly, almost like she’s rewarding the girl as well, with keeping the tent somewhat dry.

Ichigo shouldn’t feel proud about this though. Her glimmer of glory soon fades as she turns to the sobbing, sleeping girl in her arms. She soon joins her in sobbing, soon, sleeping. Momo wraps her thick, fluffy fox tail around the duo, with Ichigo joining suit with one of her wolven tails. Ichigo releases a couple more poots, silent-and-thankfully-not-deadly, relieving enough pressure for her stomach to cease its gurgling, satisfying Momo’s sleepy caretaking.

The two soon cry themselves to a wistful, dreamless sleep, together.

♥♥♥

Momo swishes her tail over her face. She may not be able to see it, but she can feel the morning rays shining right on her face. Rolling onto her side, she stretches awake. She’s ready to start looking for the door to the tent, before realizing she’s still unfathomably under-dressed for the occasion.

“My knight?! Knight-lady—err… Knight-boy!? Where are you!? Bring me my dress already!” she shouts, groggily.

“Uhh—Uhh…,” a timid voice responds back, right outside the tent.  
“Ugh, is that you, witch? Where’s the boy, and my dress?”  
“Y-yeah…,” says Ichigo, scared to hear her sister loud and awake.  
“Great… Well, where is he?”  
“I… don’t know if he’s up yet, its kind of early…”  
“How early?”  
“I-I…”  
“Ugh, how are you this useless…?”  
“I’m sorry…” Ichigo holds down her fox ears, greatly ashamed in the face of the verbal abuse. “I-if it makes you feel any better…,”  
“ _What_ could make me feel any better? I’m stripped to my… ugh, birthday suit…”  
“...So am I…”  
“...Why?”  
“...I bathed earlier, and there’s no towel at the moment…”  
“So what, you are just sitting outside, in the nude…?!”  
“…”  
Momo pinches the bridge of her nose. “Get inside, before someone sees you, dummy!”  
“B-but I don’t want to g-get the tent wetter—wet!”  
“Not like it’s your tent, anyway. And are you calling me sweaty or something!?”  
“NO! I’m not! I swear!”

Momo would argue more, but she does get a feel for herself. Her burnout left her completely soaked, she feels like a pig. The conspicuous wet spots she can feel on the tarp floor, she assumes they must have came from her. Still, she doesn’t like anyone thinking she’s in need of any kind of antiperspirant, it isn’t her fault she’s not suited for hot climates.

“...Just hurry up and get in here. Knights shouldn’t see ladies without their garments!”

With that reprimand, Ichigo obediently rushes on in. She sees Momo laying against the tent walls, looking perturbed, with her legs crossed. Ichigo sits in the opposite corner, wondering what her elder sister’s next order, what her next move will be. She can feel the tension between the two starting to rebuild, the closeness they had last night have all but faded. With the limited space of the tent, Ichigo is all but a foot away from pressing foot-against-foot with the girl, which is only making her more and more anxious.

“Uhm…” Ichigo says, breaking the silence between the two.  
“ _Sigh._ What?”  
“I-I wanted to ask you s-s-s-something…”  
“First, I do. I got one question.”  
“ _Yip!_ Y-yes?”  
“Where did you put my staff? And my fan? And my dress? And my--”  
“That’s already three questions…”  
Momo scrunches her face.  
“S-sorry… I shouldn’t have said… I-I-I think they are with Mr. K-K-Kip…”  
“And can you _stop_ stuttering for five seconds? It’s embarrassing!”  
“I-I can’t help—can’t help it…”  
“Have you have no oral training?”  
“Not really…”  
“Unbelievable…”

“…”

“Well, what do you want?”  
“I-I wanted to k-know… Who are you?”  
“...Excuse me?!”

Momo is genuinely confused at this question. Who is she? Who is she!? She’s Momo Sunada, firstborn daughter of Queen Anzu Sunada! Future queen of the Iozarian Peninsula! Beloved by all (that matters), feared by the wrong, she’s the girl that will push Iozarian Royalty to new heights! She’s been trained since birth to be the perfect royal, to be the kind of girl that everyone will DAMN know who she is and what she has and will done! To be asked by anyone who is she, ESPECIALLY by a girl that’s supposed to be her SISTER, her lesser, any kind of lesser, is a slight that will not go unanswered! Momo is ready to explode in a rant that will deafen the girl when Ichigo goes--

“Sorry, I-I mean…! I mean what do you like to do?! Hobbies!? Likes?! Dislikes?! Please don’t hurt me, I’m sorry!”

Ichigo cowers on top of Momo’s feet. Her nude, wet, chubby body pleads to her elder half-sister, hoping she would forgive her horrid slip of the tongue.

“G-get off! Don’t touch me, witch!”  
Ichigo immediately flings herself off and retreats back to the corner. She huddles herself into a fetal position, as she begins to huff, puff, and wheeze.  
“What-what are you doing? What’s that noise?”  
“C-can’t –- _wheeze_ \-- can’t breathe…! Can’t breathe…!”  
“Gods, calm _down_ already! How are you like this? Are you always like this? How do you even go outside?!”  
“I—I don’t…! -- _Wheeze, huff puff_ \--”  
“You don’t? Wait, what do you mean?”  
Ichigo falls onto her side, her vision begins to blur again.  
“Hey, I said breathe already! What is _wrong_ with you?”  
“Forgive me, – _huff--_ forgive me…! I can’t…!”  
“Forgive you?! Not until you take me home, witch!”

Ichigo begins to feel clammy and cold as another panic attack strikes her. She tries to repeat what she’s done earlier, slam into her chest, but she is lying on top of one of her arms! She feebly strikes her chest with one arm, missing her heart wildly!

“H-help me…! I—I--!”  
“W-what is even happening?! A-are you okay!?”  
“H-heart… HEART…!” Ichigo’s heart feels like it is starting to thump out of her chest!  
“I…Hang on, slow down! Are you sick?!”  
“Y-YES! YES! YES!” Ichigo rapidly nods, everything hurting.  
“W-what do I do, how do I-I stop this?!”  
“HIT ME!!”  
“Hit you?!”  
“HEART! HIT ME!!”  
“I can’t even see your heart! K-keep talking, keep breathing! I’ll see what I can do!”

Momo takes a breath as she tries to locate Ichigo’s location. She sees her flailing, wild aura scatter about as her improper breathing ripples throughout the mist around them. She crawls towards the girl, falling onto of her! She feels her way all over Ichigo’s body by way of her heavy breathing and quivering body! Locking leg-to-leg, Momo presses the side of her head onto Ichigo, starting by way of her stomach, working her way up. Part of her feels small in comparison to her younger sister, feeling all her heavy, round curves right against her flat chest. Part of her feels angry that she has to do this in the nude, on top of another nude, wet girl. And the rest of her feels scared, worried about the girl who needs her help, who is screaming her head off!

She wraps her arms around Ichigo, managing to finally find where heart is! She feels how heavy, how rapidly its beating! Momo’s own heart is starting to pick up the pace, as her inexperience in this kind of scenario is starting to get to her. She never had to do any sort of medical training! At best, she had to learn how to set up her own medicines for a couple of her own issues! And now she has to somehow calm down a girl on the verge of cardiac arrest?! It’s a storm of emotions as the clock is ticking, as Momo finally begins to press down and beat on Ichigo’s chest!

“Calm down, c-c-alm down already!” stutters and screeches Momo! She’s scared, she’s really scared! If she doesn’t do this right, fails at this, will she die? Will she be responsible for this!? Will she be stuck on this spire for the rest of her life?! Never getting the chance to claim her birthright, to rule over the Peninsula!? Die alone, without a penny to her name and scrap of clothes on her back?! Without ever kissing a knight and living her dream of being pampered for the rest of her days?! This can’t be how it ends! “Calm down, Ichigo! Uh! Breathe! Uh, live! Don’t die! Ichigo Sunada, you aren’t allowed to die here!”

Finding her face, Momo begins to give mouth-to-mouth to Ichigo, if only to SHUT. HER. UP!

♥ _Smmoooooooochhh! ♥_

♥♥♥

Kip flies down to the tent. Another night in the trees, another happy day to begin. Or what it would be, were it not for hearing screaming that came from the direction of where he left the girls! Kip had to rush on, making sure that the duo weren’t in danger! By the time he landed at the site, the tent was eerily quiet!

Unzipping the tent, Kip barges on in, hoping to see that the ny’oni princesses were alright!

“Ichigo! Momo! Are you o--!?”

Kip sees… an odd sight. Ichigo and Momo are on opposite sides of the tent, neither facing each other. Momo has her knees tucked into herself while Ichigo stares horrified at the ceiling, sitting on top of her spread legs. Both girls are redder than cherries, the look of embarrassment are plastered on the two, to the point that neither take any notice at the boy looking in at their nude bodies. Both repeat the same mad manta, unable to comprehend what they have done and why did it had to happen:

“ **Why did this happen?! My first kiss! Why!? With her!?** ”

Kip can only stare at… complete confusion at the sight.

“Uhh… Your clothes are ready?”

♥♥♥

Kip helps Momo slip into her new dress. Significantly smaller in size and shape, its more of a nightie, a pajama top, than the full sized, lacy, classic-era dress she was trapped in. The corset isn’t necessary anymore, so much of it was converted into a belt for her new purple skirt. Her bra and bloomers were washed, but several stains still mark it. Momo at least can’t see them, and hopefully, no one should.

“Hmm…,” snorts the stuck-up Sunada. “Your sewing skills is… adequate, Sir Kip.”  
“Yeah, I’m out of practice!” cheers the psychopomp, grinning with earning the title of “Sir”. “Doesn’t help you girls’ stuff are so… complicated. Still, I think I can make you girls look nice. I want to sell the ‘royal’ side of the ‘royal castaway’!”  
“You better,” Momo grunts, clutching her golden staff. Her dissatisfaction with her current adornments is obvious, her face is scrunched up like a child ingesting bitter medicine and she’s constantly scratching at the seams of her outfit, but a part of her wants her to hold her tongue.

“You-you look nice, Momo,” stutters Ichigo, coming out from the tent, redressed for the occasion.

Momo does her best side-eye, snapping her neck towards her junior.

Ichigo becomes startled, cowering behind Kip. She feels only slightly more at ease, with Kip in between her and Momo. And after today, she could stand to give six degrees of separation between the two “sisters”.

“I could look so, so much better if you would just take me home, already,” demands the irate princess.  
“I-I’m sorry. I really don’t know how. I don’t know how or why I am here…”  
“If you would _stop lying_ already, we’d be home by now, and you can face your crimes like the grown woman you are _supposed to be._ ”

“I don’t think Ichigo is lying, Lady Momo,” interjects Kip, holding Ichigo close to him with his right wing. “I’m really good at telling who is and isn’t a fibber, and she’s been nothing but honest. I mean, Nine Hells, she didn’t even have her cores unlocked!”

“ _Excuse moi?”_ Momo looks completely flabbergasted. “H-How in the world did you not have your cores free, aren’t you supposed to--”

“I know…,” Ichigo solemnly swears. “I was never… never great at magic or mist manipulation or… any of that stuff…”  
“Hello! The Queen’s Oratorio is a magical ritual! We Sunadas are all about bending the mist to our whims! Mama, Grandmama, Great-grandmama, all talented mages! You just… you just aren’t royal without it!”

This shocks Ichigo down to her cores. Momo can’t see it, but Ichigo’s mind is reeling.

“Seriously, were you _trying_ to fail your ceremony?! Make a mockery of us all!?”  
“Hey, Momo,” Kip interjects once more with. “Ease off, before you say something you would regret.  
“GODS, no wonder Mama didn’t show up. She must have known how much of a disaster this would have been! I wish she had told me, do you know how much time and energy it is to cross the entire strait back down to Central Iozario!?”  
“Momo…!”  
“Ugh, I can’t believe you got me, ME, being angry at Mama. She never deserves that. She doesn’t deserve you! You worthless bastard! You dumb---”

In a flash of light, Kip invades Momo’s personal space. It came so fast, so _violently,_ that Momo is thrown back and falls down on her rump, into a small patch of mud, wet from the girls’ constant washing. Ichigo can see that the angel boy is red-hot, his wings are practically steaming from his anger.

“Mr. Kip, don’t hurt her!” shouts Ichigo, fearing for Momo’s well-being.

Ignoring her, Kip grabs Momo by the collar of dress, picking her up onto her feet in a single motion! Momo, still in shock, can barely flail her arms, having lost grip of her staff!

“AAGH! L-LET GO, YOU BRUTE! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF TH--!?”

“Let me get one thing clear,” Kip says, in a tone, harsh and almost _masculine,_ Ichigo has yet to seen before. It terrifies her, to see her protector be so genuinely angered by her.

“We… don’t use the ‘d-word’ on this adventure. In fact, none of us should be bullying each other.”  
“A-adventure?! Bullying?! Are you mad, this isn’t an adventure, and she deserves every bit of ridicule for imprisoning me in this… madhouse!”  
“You have a right to be angry, that is what I like about you land-dwellers. But if you think I am going to sit here and let you belittle and project your own anger onto others, than you have another thing coming, ‘sister’.”  
Momo is stunned and confused by her knight manhandling her like this. She believes that he should be doing this to the witch that got them locked into this situation, she’s innocent!”  
“And another thing: Ichigo’s your sister! If anyone should support her, it should be her family! She’s as lost and aimless as you are, right!?”  
Momo is quiet, still reeling from this outburst, preparing her strategy in freeing herself and running to get help.  
“RIGHT!?”  
“R-r-right, yes, we are!”  
“Right! Now, I’m gonna put you down now. Go to our left and apologize to her, for your mean words, and for calling her the ‘d-word’. No one deserves to be called that! We all have our own brands of intelligence!”

With that, Momo is put down. Kip goes and grabs back her staff, placing it back in Momo’s hands.

Momo can feel just how determined the lad is in egging-out and apology from her, to her _enemy._ It’s… It’s infuriating! She should be apologizing to her, not the other way around, in the mind of the frustrated Sunada. She’s certainly not going to obey some brute that gets to fondle and molest her maidenly form, just to protect some… some witch!

What she should do, what she will do, is hit someone, again. Hard, with extreme prejudice. Her staff is golden, it will certainly hurt, paying back double for her mistreatment! No one should be allowed to victimize a princess like her, Mama Anzu wouldn’t allow this! All it will take is one good swing, and she will have enacted her duty, her PRIVILEGE as a princess!

She grips her staff, tightly. She doesn’t even need her blindsight, her aura reading. She needs a calmer head to start that back up. Besides, all she needs to see is **red**.

“SHHHHHHHSSSSSSKKKK!!!” she snarls, catching Kip and Ichigo off-guard! She makes her move, charging at full speed, her staff ready to strike someone, anyone that dares crosses her path! Whether its the witch that has entrapped her or the knight that has betrayed all her kindness, someone will pay for letting these transgressions happen!

“Ichigo, look out, she’s after you!” shouts Kip, as he watches Momo darts towards her direction!

“AGH!” Ichigo screams, running away from her angry sister! She runs away, towards the trees, needing cover from the wild Momo!

“YOU CAN’T JUST HURT ME! PUSH ME DOWN, GET ME ALL MUDDY!” shouts Momo, swinging her rod as she runs. “I OWE NO ONE AN APOLOGY! YOU OWE ME, YOU DUMB WIT--!!”

Ichigo hears something collide. Sounds like it too. But it isn’t her skull against Momo’s rod. Instead, it was the sound of a hardheaded Sunada running straight into a tree!

Momo is knocked straight onto the ground. The bark snags against her clothes, tearing off a good deal of fabric as she flies back into the mud. Before she has time to get back up, before she has time to realize what she’s done to herself, before she even had time to take note she ran into a tree, a loose branch breaks off from the tree and comes tumbling down, right on top of her cranium! She falls back down, knocked out cold by the assault from above!

“OH MY GODS! MOMO!” shouts Ichigo. She rushes from behind the tree and checks to see on her sister. ‘ _She doesn’t deserve this! Please be okay, please be okay!’  
_“Oh no! Is she okay!?” yells Kip, having caught up with the girls. “Why did she snap like that!? Was she really that mad?! What is her problem!?”  
“Not now! Quick, get bandages! She’s bleeding!”  
“O-oh, right! Good thinking, Ichi!”

Kip grabs his bag and takes out a roll of bandages. It’s not a lot, but its enough to cover the small wounds that has developed on top of Momo’s head and forehead. He also grabs a small, red vial.

“Here, I got the bandages, and even a small healing potion!”  
“Good! Help me feed it to her, hold her neck! Keep her steady!”  
“Roger!”

It takes only a couple of minutes for the duo to coordinate their small amounts of first aid training and stabilize the unconscious Momo. Her breathing slows back to normal, the bleeding is controlled, and Momo begins to stir.

“Whoa. You’re good. I didn’t expect you to… you know…?”  
“I fall down a lot. My maids do this routine a lot. And I guess I caught some of that? I don’t know, I don’t think I did anything special.”  
“Takes a lot of will and a sharp mind to coordinate people, especially in a medical emergency.”  
“She was just bleeding, I didn’t do anything out the ordinary… She just… needed help, and I was there…”  
“Hey, don’t sell yourself, or the maids who taught you well short. You did great!”

Ichigo blushes, happy that worst has come to past and that she was an honest help for once. Being on the delivering side of first aid is much more enticing to her than being on the receiving end for the countless numbers of times her clumsiness has have her seriously hurt herself.

“The potion should take effect soon. I think I can leave her with you while I start packing things up. Oh!” Kip grabs Momo’s staff. “Won’t be having any incidents without this thing!”  
“I hope she doesn’t wake up angry…,” worries Ichigo, caressing Momo’s head.  
“Me too. I think I should ready up [[ **Physician** ]], just in case. Though the potion should do its job, it might have her calm down if she does go loco again. But one problem at a time.”

♥♥♥

Momo begins to feel jostled, as if she is on a rough ride of a sled. Her tail feels like its dragging against the ground, and she’s holding onto something she doesn’t quite recognize. She wonders if she’s been captured, like way back when, thanks to the bindings around her wrists. She can feel the sun shining down on the top of her head, as well as something else. She wants to move, free herself, remove her bindings and whatever is on top of her head, but she is struggling to move about. Her arms and legs feel foreign to her, tingly even. She feels like her brain has to treat them like she treats poor servants, having to yell and stomp to get them to move at the pace she needs and wants. It’s frustrating she has to do that, doubly so that it is her own body that is rejecting her orders.

She would at least like to have her staff on her, if she is captured. They were kind enough to give her that courtesy, way back then…

_**AWWAARPPPLLTTT**_!

“Ichigo!”  
“S-sorry, oh gods! Excuse me! I-I’ve been gassy all day and-and I couldn’t hold it anymore!”  
“At least warn me, you know I’m following you! Gah…!”

This… this was the opposite of a courtesy.

“Eurrracck!” Momo chokes down an unhealthy amount of bile as her nose is assaulted with the noxious fumes! Being strapped onto Ichigo’s back gives her zero degrees of separation between her and Ichigo’s rancid behind!

“Momo! I’m sorry, I’ll try to hold it better! Please don’t get mad!” Ichigo tries to placate the girl as she’s trying to free herself from her restraints. Ichigo sees the bandages holding Momo’s wrists together around her neck begins to loosen from the girl’s thrashing!

“Ugh! Where am I, what is this, why does it _stink!?”_ outcries the girl! She reels back, managing to undo the binds! She falls into the dirt with a _thwump_ , her squishy behind even letting her bounce for a brief millisecond! Her neck snaps back, causing her to fall back and bump her head on the ground! “Agh!”

“Momo! Your head!” cries Ichigo, flushed with worry. She goes and rushes to her side, helping her stabilize herself and pick up her head.  
“Don’t… don’t touc--!” slurs Momo. She’s quite dazed, even she is seeing stars after suffering yet another bump to the noggin.  
“It’s okay, it’s okay! Here, drink this!” Ichigo rustles into her cleavage, pulling out a red vial, like the one from before. It’s still half-full. “This will make the pain go away.” She feeds the girl another healthy drink, the resin-like, sugary gluck slides down her throat like the slime of a snail – slowly, deliberately, almost designed to let the foul schlock sit for as long as possible, to cause as much displeasure as possible.  
“ _Gulp!_ Uck, augh…” Ichigo sympathizes with Momo’s current disposition, the girl looks like she’s on the brink of throwing up right then and there. “It’s like cough syrup mixed with castor oil, yuck… What was that…?”  
“A healing potion, I believe. That’s what Mr. Kip calls it.”  
“That could taste so much better…”

Ichigo helps Momo stand on her feet. Whether its the potion taking its effect, the concussion still not resolved, or her waking self not quite stable yet, her legs feel like jelly. She leans onto Ichigo, pressing her full weight onto her. Ichigo isn’t particularly strong, but she’s stocky enough that she doesn’t topple over completely, only moving a few feet.

“Ngh… Wh-where am I? A-arrre we back hoome…? Where’s Ringo?” Momo can’t stop herself from slurring, she feels almost hungover. Like a bad night drinking with her sister.  
“No, we are on the move again. We are looking for the mage I sensed. Can-can you walk?”  
“Ooof course I caaaann… I'm bliiinndd, not laaaaaaaaaaaame...” Momo takes a few wobbly steps before slumping down on her knees. “Oof! Wh-wwhhhat did you do to meeee?!”

“Did you gave her the full dose, Ichigo?” asks Kip, keeping his distance, readying his [[ **Physician** ]] spell. His palms are aglow with an eerie blue light.  
“Y-yeah?”  
“Ah, yeah. That’s gonna keep her sitting pretty for a good while. That was a pretty powerful potion, tends to be something of a muscle relaxant at high doses. Keep her on your back, okay?”  
“Oh dear...”

“Uggghh…!” whines Momo. “Whhhy do I have to be on her baaccck? I’m already dirty, I don’t waaaannnt to smell like a stinky wiiiitttchhh?”

“You still on that? Listen, as much as I would like to carry you, my wings are still pretty raw from yesterday. And… uhh… you two could do with some more bonding, _ahem._ ” Kip tells her half the truth. A good amount of his apprehension comes from the fact that Kip doesn’t have the arm strength to bridal carry the girl the entire trip, especially with how much of her weight is centered right around her butt.

To Momo, she takes it in poor sport. “Ugghh… I’ve had enough ‘ssiiiisssttterrrllyy booonnndddinnngg’ for one day, not after this morning…” Both she and Ichigo blush, the memory still vivid to the both of them.

“What happened in there, anyway?”

“Uhm…,” interjecting Ichigo. “Mr. Kip? Do you-- do you know CPR?”  
“Yeah, of course! Don’t have to worry about dying around me, hahahaha! Snrk! Irony…”  
“Uhmm… can you teach it?”  
“Yeah…? What are you getting at? Do you need to know it?”  
“No, I already-- well, I could use a refresh— She needs-- Nevermind! Just… help me put Momo back on my back…!”  
“Ookie-dokie! You can tell me what happened at any time, Ichigo, got it?”

“I ratthheer you not,” snarls Momo. She’s piggybacked once more onto Ichigo, tying her hands together. Momo sees it as making sure the witch doesn’t drop her again, Kip sees it as keeping Momo from striking Ichigo. Either way, the girl has many qualms, but none of them has the ability to get her moving once more.

“There we go. Let me know if you need anything, Lady Momo,” says Kip, giving her and Ichigo the thumbs-up.

“ _Humph._ ”

The trek continues northeastern-ward, far from the lake the trio resided in. Much of the trip, Momo stays in an indignant silence. Being this close to her most loathed person in the world, being drugged, being hurt, none of this brings any sort of pleasure to the girl so used to it all. If there was anything she needed, it would be her REAL little sister, Ringo. She is the only woman she trusts to carry her around, to escort her around any premises. Whether it was from upstairs, to the kitchen, to her bedroom, even to the bathroom, Ringo was always ready to take her anywhere around the castle the two resided in. Sometimes she struggled to find her way, direction was another one of her many weaker suits (not to mention her fashion sense). She knows many of her maids and servants knew the castle better, but Ringo had a certain _je ne sais quoi_ about her that made every trip with at least tolerable to her, sometimes bordering on fun.

Maybe it was the comfort of having one family member be with her? Maybe it was her chipper, devil-may-care attitude? Maybe that no matter how much she whined and moaned, ordered and blustered, Ringo never let it bring her down or gave her a reason to complain, unlike how she felt with her many servants. Momo have granted her little sister, no, her _guardian,_ a special feeling she can’t grant to any other but her own Mama. She loathes anyone else, those without that feeling. She can’t help it, if she was that trusting again, she would never, ever find herself in any kind of dire straits, ones like the one she is in, or even more life-threatening! The fact that drunkard could even obtain such a feat is a miracle neither Sunada knows how it happened, what it means, or even if the other knows about. But if there was anything Momo needed, it would be her right now, right at this instance.

That… and stopping whatever odd feeling is developing betwixt her legs. She’s starting to get the feeling that Ringo would be quite useful at the moment.

“Hm?” grunts Ichigo, feeling her sides being squeezed a bit tighter by Momo’s thighs. “Are-are you okay, Momo? Feeling alright? You’ve been—you’ve been quiet for a long time. I thought you fell back asleep.”

“Too eaaaarly in the daaay for that… Just that…” Momo thinks about it for a little bit. She really doesn’t want to be telling anything _that_ personal to the witch, who knows what she could do with that information. “Just that I would like yoouuu to stop that music.”

“M-music?” Ichigo stops in tracks, Kip soon following suit. She perks her fox-ears, Kip his small, round ones. Both of them search around the premises, listening around for anything akin to music. Neither of them pick up anything, only the faint sounds of winds, the waves crashing below the spire, even some birds chirping, far and away. “I-I don’t hear any music. B-but I do hear water! I think we are close to the edge again!” Ichigo is excited. Searching for this mage may be the key to getting out of the spire!

“Hey, good ears, you two!” cheers Kip, giving two thumbs-up to the girls. “I wouldn’t be able to hear any kind of water! Calling it music is weird, but I do think the waves of the water have a certain, audible beauty to them.” He close his eyes and beams a smile, listening to the calming, refreshing noises of nature.

“No, not that. I mean the muuusic…,” moans Momo.  
“A-are… are you okay?” Ichigo is starting to worry for her big sister.  
“It’s been playing for a while noooow…”  
“Momo, there isn’t any music. I-I swear.”  
“Mmnnn…”

The tune Momo hears is akin to an orchestra, like the one her ceremony had. She’s starting to get some vivid flashbacks to that day, when she had to sing the Queen’s Oratorio. It is almost mocking her, the tune reverberating louder and louder every hour or so, ever since she’s woke up, and its only been getting harder to ignore. It’s bringing back a feeling she’s been so hard trying to keep down, especially as that peculiar feeling down below has been growing: anxiety. She crosses her legs around Ichigo’s waist, the terror of performance anxiety is starting to get to her. She can even SEE a few of the instruments playing!

“Momo? Momo? Please, talk to me. Are-are you sure you are okay?”  
“I’m fine! I’m just… I can hear it. It’s nothing, it happens…”  
“Are-are you sure? You are shivering. And looking pale, too. Do we need to stop? Is your head hurting?”  
Momo feels some goosebumps starting to grow around her legs, still tingling and hard to control. “I-I’m fine. It has nothing to do with my heaaaad… It...it happens, just ignore me.”

Ichigo feels sorry for her older sister, despite everything that happens today. She hasn’t known her for long, but she can tell this is unnatural for her, for the both of them. It’s like how she was over the night, scared and feeble, far away from the powerful force of reckoning that was ready to clobber her over getting a bit dirty. Not the person that had to get down and save her from her panic attack.

Ichigo worries if Momo is having her own. Maybe something worse, from all the head trauma she suffered.

“Momo, we can stop. I can...I can go on alone if we need it, Mr. Kip can take care of you. I know you don’t like me, but...but I would like to like you…”

“I’m fine, I’m fine! I _really_ don’t need your p-p—piiittty!” Momo can’t stop quivering. She can feel Ichigo’s hands pressing into her cushioned behind, her messy braids delving into her nostrils, her weak, submissive voice invading her ear drums. As long as she is on Ichigo’s back, she is getting 100% of everything Ichigo, even the little stomach gurgles! She hates this, she hates her, and she hates how she’s starting to conduct the music!

  
“Please, Momo. I’m serious. I don’t want you suffering. I don’t want you thinking I’m a bad person, like I hate you. I don’t like that. I don’t want to hate anyone. I don’t want to hate you. I don’t want you to hate me. And I...I just want to know you. Anything about you.

“I don’t know a lot about my family. No one really got to tell me much. Even my maids have been mostly silent about it. They don’t want me to worry about that stuff, about how Mother… I just… I don’t want my family to hate me… I feel like everyone else does… Even me… If there was anyone I don’t want to hate me, it would be nice to have that.”

Momo feels much of her anxiety begin to fade away, hearing Ichigo’s words. The voice she found grating at first, now seems soothing and kindhearted. She can smell a bit of Mama within her hair. She can feels Ichigo’s palms through her clothes. A bit coarse, somewhat rough, but still soft enough to carry through her lack of malice, her purehearted spirit. None of this stops the music in her head, a rendition of the Queen’s Oratorio, but she doesn’t feel afraid of the image of Ichigo within her, sharply-dressed, refined, excited to hear her sing, any longer. She may not know what her younger sis truly looks like, but the image she has of her is… warm.

Momo crosses her legs around Ichigo tighter, leaning into her some more. She says softly, calming down a good deal, “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about your big sister. Try not to have another heart attack, especially over my sake. I just had some… intrusive thoughts, they are gone now. We can keep moving, pretend like this never happened, okay?”

“...Okay.”  
“...Sorry…”  
“Hmm?”  
“Sorry for making you worry. Like I said, these things happen. It’s… something of a quirk of mines, just pay it little mind.”  
“Ah, okay. You sure it isn’t serious?”  
“...I guess it hasn’t been this bad before…”  
“Say that again?”  
“I said it isn’t serious. Please, let just… resume going wherever you are taking me.”  
“Oh… A-alright then.”  
“… Sorry for… being a handful today...”  
Ichigo doesn’t respond, only giving the briefest, the slightest of smiles hearing that.  
“I-I’ve said I had to go to the privy!”  
“I heard you, don’t wor—oh! Oh, okay! Uh, do you need to stop now?”  
“No, no! I can hold it. It’s nothing that needs addressing like that. Just thought… I should let you know. Ugh… Let’s just go already.”

Awkward admissions aside, the trio resumes their trekking.

♥♥♥

It doesn’t take long for Momo to start realizing she may have been overestimating her capacity. As the gang approaches the edge of the floating isle they were on, she can hear the crashing wakes of the water below them all. From where they all stand, Ichigo and Kip can see the core of the spire for all its glory, an obsidian, upside-down pyramid. Ichigo looks back, realizing that what they were on was just one level of one structure of this place. As Ichigo’s mist-senses become keener, its becoming more apparent to her the sheer distance they’ve traveled, the sheer size of this place. She can’t believe this place is real, how it has gone unnoticed for so long. She begins to sweat as the overwhelming dread of never leaving this place begins to suffocate her, much like how Momo’s arms have been coiling around her tighter for past couple of hours. She begins to lose her balance, right as Kip places a hand on her shoulder.

“There it is!” Kip says, pointing towards black monstrosity. “The main spire. Cool, right? Between this place and the heart over there, there’s about five or so different sections, at least that’s what I’ve seen.”

“A-and they are -- _ **gulp**_ \-- all filled with monsters?” Ichigo says. “L-like the one from before?”  
“That ulvir was an outlier, I swear. I’ve checked all the top layers of this place, I haven’t seen anything like it before. If there were, they would be inside each of these things, below the layers. And I haven’t found anyway to get inside, to get down into the other floors of this place. Sometimes there’s a window, but it’s too narrow for me to fly into. So I’m… not quite sure how it got up here… Hmm…”  
“Will we be safe?”  
“If we aren’t right now, then I’ll make sure we will be. And if we are, I’ll keep it that way. For the both of us. For the three of us, excuse me. Speaking of which, how are you holding up, Lady Momo?”

Momo shimmies in her steed some more, pressing her crotch into Ichigo’s back tighter. “Fine, for the most part.”  
“That music still going in your noggin?”  
“Yeah, hasn’t cleared up yet…”  
“You sure you okay? You’ve been looking clammy for a while now.”  
“Gods, how many times are you two going to ask me the same question!? YES!”  
“Just saying! Haha…! You did said you had to go a while back, and we got some more places to go. And I rather not rest on the bridge, I don’t trust it.”

Kip points Ichigo to the wide, wooden bridge between this spire and the main one. Swaying in the sea breeze, Ichigo spots several weak spots within the construction. She feels like it a rope could snap, a board could fall apart, the entire thing could collapse whenever it felt like it.

“Ooooh…,” groans Ichigo, as many scenarios start playing through her head. Her stomach begins to race as much as mind. She feels her puckered hole begins to bulge from between her ass. “C-cover your nose, can’t hold this one back!

**FRRUUMAPPTT!**

“Gods, you! I’m still on your back!” cries Momo!

“Gackt! Got no one to blame but myself, you did warn me this time…,” relents Kip, too slow on the draw to keep himself from breathing a good deal of Ichigo’s exhaust.

“I’m sorry, excuse me, I swear… It came up on me hard!”

“Remind me to make sure you go easy on the beans next time, I think I can smell the sauce in that one…!”

Ichigo blushes bright red, tucking her head into her chest. She legitimately forgot that beans can do that to people, and here she went, eating two whole cans of them. No wonder her stomach has been toiling since this morning. Staring at this precarious bridge isn’t helping it either, her nerves are agitating her gut more and more. Worst part is, she’s hungry for them again…

“Hey, once we cross this bridge why don’t we take a break? Let you two take of business, eat some stuff. I still got a few canned goods left.”

Both girls ponder the thought, before agreeing to a “Yes. I’m starving…!”

“Ha, you two really are sisters! You girls might even share a stomach, would save on supplies!”

If they did shared one, Momo certainly would not want to have Ichigo’s colon. She smells like she was raised in a barn. “Please, no. Stuff like Miss Stink Bomb here is why I made a few spells to make sure I don’t reek like she does, no matter what I do and how it happens.”

“You can make spells?” asks Ichigo, curious as to what the girls means.  
“Some stomach enhancements, air fresheners, odor repellents. Barely a percentile of the things I can do! I’m a prodigy at this stuff, and I can promise you that if I can’t get you smelling like peaches, I certainly will! Ohoohohho!”

Well, it is the thought that counts, at least to Ichigo…

_Psh!_

Not that she has much time to dwell on it, as Momo quickly wraps her legs around her carrier. She regrets laughing that hard, she might have spritzed herself a little in there. She’s usually good at holding it in, especially in the many times Ringo had to lead her to her privy drunk and disorderly. Why is she struggling now?

“H-hey, let us hurry up already! The sun waits for no one!” she shouts. If its just the one bridge, she can make it to the rest stop past it and relieve herself. It may hurt right now, but it is only a moderate amount of pressure. She doesn’t like having to do it out in the wild, but she just have to browbeat the two of them into keeping quiet! Her “chalice” shall be emptied without interference!

Kip takes the lead, keeping an eye out for any structural weaknesses. Ichigo is starting to feel jealous towards Momo’s blindness, she doesn’t have to see how far above up the three of them are. If her big-boned self takes the wrong step, she’ll go plummeting into the great sea! The both of them will, and that’s even scarier! She wouldn’t just take her own life, she’ll get a (relatively) innocent caught in her descent! If she wasn’t in Nine Hells already, she would certainly get punted in there for her crime!

_Fwthppp!_

“Hey, hey!” shouts Momo, sniffing the air. She smells what broke past the salty air and Ichigo’s backside. “No more farting!” The smell would at least get Momo’s mind off the great amount of water both below her and pouring into her “chalice”, were it not for the vibrations coming from her steed. Combined with Ichigo’s unsteady, swaying footsteps, Momo feels like she’s losing control.

“Rau-ragh-right…,” drones on Ichigo, feeling faint. She can’t even hold onto the rope sides of the bridge right now, much less hold down her gurgling gut. Her vision blurs, making it all the harder to judge the distance of where she is and how long she will fall, whether to move fast or take it slow. “Auugh… It’s-it’s happening again…,” she says, her voice cracking, her heart fluttering.

“Huh? Ichigo?” Kip turns around, seeing Ichigo’s deteriorating state. “Whoa, whoa! Stop, calm down Ichigo! You do not want to look down, okay? Just keep your eyes on me, follow me, okay?”

“ _Huff, puff_ … Okaaa—yy,” she says, trying to catch her breath. “Look at you, look at you… Just… just give me a minute.”

“How about ten seconds?” retorts Momo. She squeeze Ichigo, like stirring up a horse, only tighter, doing little to ease her nerves. “I-I would really prefer we do-do not lollygag on this precarious bridge any longer than we have too!” Her pitch is shriller than normal, unable to keep herself under control.

_Pshy! Psh!_

‘ _D-dammit, why..?!_ ’ Momo’s thoughts begin to race, the music in her brain rapidly increasing its tempo. Her ‘chalice’ feels like it has a crack in it, a leak. It’s barely been an hour-and-some-change since she announced that she had to go, and yet she feels like her bladder is bursting. No matter how tightly she holds herself against Ichigo, its not enough to keep the little spurts from seeping into her bloomers. It’s starting to grow putrid stains, enough that Ichigo can feel a growing, wet warmth right on her spine.

The trek across is slow-going, both ladies losing their cool with every step Ichigo takes. She tries to watch Kip’s eyes, stare into his dimples, but the fear of stepping on the wrong spot, combined with Momo steadily increasing how much she is leaning into her, is making her struggle to keep her neck up.

“How far are we from the end…?!” cries both princesses, each of their ailments growing by the second.

“We are halfway there. Ichigo, if you need me to carry her, I can take her from here. Lady Momo, do you think you can hold it?”

‘ _All this walking…?_ ’

_Pshh…!_

‘ _A-_ _a_ _nd we are only halfway…?!_ ’

_**BWARPT!** _

“Gah!” cries the both of them. Ichigo holds her guts, Momo shuts her mouth.  
“Dammit, you! You did that one on purpose! UGH!”  
“I’m sorry, I can’t stop them!”

_Pshhh!_

Ichigo’s bowels aren’t the only thing she can’t stop. She begins to feel a warm sensation beginning to run down her back.

“AH! Hot hot hot hot! What is that!?”  
“No no no no! Not here!”

Ichigo’s and Momo’s anxieties are at a crossroad. Both feel their tails rise in sync, both feel the need to cease their currents predicaments ASAP. Momo’s bloomers are at max saturation as her bladder begins to deny her whims and wailing. Ichigo feels that last one was wet, she can feel some skid marks developing in the cotton of her training pants. Shame will soon follow if they do nothing!

“Move, move! Put me down, I need to go, now! Now!”  
“Wait, stop! I can’t—I can’t…! URGH! Stop it! Stop squeezing, stop flailing! My stomach!”

If only they had the willpower and common sense left between the two of them to do anything but flail about and fight each other..

_**PSHHH!!** _

_**FWARRPTT!** _

_CRACK!!_

Ichigo, under the constant grabbing and smacking and thrashing of her big sister, takes a heavy step forward, onto a weak plank of wood! Her furry foot slips on through, causing her to sink!

“Ichigo! Momo!” shouts Kip

“AHHHH!” she screams, her fate sealed!

Her meaty thighs scrape against the sharp, broken wood, stopping her from sinking all the way through, right around her pelvis! The shock causes her to throw her head back, knocking straight into Momo’s chin with a THWACK! If the sudden fall wasn’t enough to cause her to break lose, the headbutt was enough of a system shock to Momo that she loses consciousness for the briefest of seconds!

_Pssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh!!_

And those precious seconds was all it took for her ‘chalice’, weakened from her days and nights of holding it in and an overdose of healing potions, to pour all over the floor… and Ichigo!

“NyUhaugHhah…! Momo cries, a mix of pain, relief, embarrassment, shame, fury!

“AUGH! Noooo-oooo!” cries Ichigo, feeling the warm piss run down her back, into her pants! Her training pants catch a good deal of Momo’s urine, the cotton padding swelling up a tiny bit! But it can’t catch it all, as the rest of lower wear begins to dampen, soon becoming heavy with Momo’s waste-waters! Given her precarious conditions, they lack the fortitude to maintain holding onto her muffin-topping waistline, causing them to slip on down!

Kip can’t avert his eyes at the horrid sight of the two girls. He stands in awe, not quite sure what he should or even can do in this scenario. All he knows is that they are a long way from the lake. At least they are around some body of water.

And for Momo, a bit too close…

The girl, reeling from her shameful display and her bruised jawline, begins to roll on the bridge. Not realizing how close she was to the end, she rolls off of it!!

“Ahhhhhhh **HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!** ”

“MOMO!” cries Ichigo!

“No!” Kip is to the rescue, diving off the bridge in a swan dive! He has only precious seconds to stop the girl’s descent before she plummets into the sea!

“ **AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!** ”

‘ _No, it can’t end this way! I had so much to do!_ ’ Momo’s thoughts begin to race, trying to beat her body! ‘ _I had so much to live for! I’ll do anything, anything! I’ll give up anything, if I can see Mama again! I want to see again! I want to live, I WANT TO LIVE,_ _ **I WANT TO LIVE!**_ ’

And just this once…

Her request was answered.

Following her golden trail as she leaves streaks in the sky, Kip falls and catches her in mid-air, securing her in his arms! He spreads his wings, as far as they can go! A blooming light burns through the sky as the boy swoops down… and pulls back up, almost grazing the surface of the water! He strains himself, trying to keep him and his passenger from losing their balance and momentum as they rocket back up towards the bridge! Ichigo watches in horror, soon delight, as the two blot out the sun with their ascent, only to smoothly flap their way back down.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I WANT TO LIVE I WANT TO LIVE I WANT TO LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEEEE!”  
“Shush… You can… It’s okay… Everything’s okay…”

Momo looks pale, as if the impact wouldn’t have killed her, her fright might have done it! She clings onto Kip, even after they are back on solid, if rickety, ground. She ignores the dark, damp stains that have cover her new mini-dress! She cares not that her bloomers and skirt have flown off somewhere between her fall and rise! She can’t stop herself from drooling and slobbering and foaming like a rabid animal! She even forgot that Ichigo is soaked in her own fluids! All she knows is that by some miracle, she’s alive! She’s alive! Even the music in her head is happy for her, having been replaced by a roaring applause!

“Oh my Gods… Oh my Gods…” wheezes an exasperated Ichigo. She finally frees herself, rolling onto her back. This was the most trying minute of her life, and she wants both to stop right now.

“…!” She isn’t on her back for long, as she feels something warm and solid underneath her seat. Her cheeks feel unnatural, sticky. She stands back up, clutching onto the back her training pants.

...She’s genuinely afraid to look what is back in there. She silently shuffles forward, almost autonomously. She takes little care about her poofy pants still being wrapped around her ankles.

“Let’s get a move on,” she says with a deadpan accent.  
“Ichigo…? You okay?” asks Kip, hugging onto the small girl in his arms with all his care, making sure that she knows that he’ll never let her die as long as he here. It appears to him that the other girl needs just as much TLC at the moment.  
“...No. No...”  
“You are walking awkwardly! Are your legs okay?! Ichigo, wait up!”

Ichigo cares little, waddling forward, the light in her eyes having left her. She just wants to get off this accursed bridge.

Kip, carrying Momo for now on, takes until the three of them are at the end of the bridge for him to realize the reason for Ichigo’s odd behavior. Taking two sniffs, he covers his nose as something fouls emits from the girl when he approaches her, one that doesn’t smell of Momo’s fluids. He looks towards her big bum as her training pants are in clear view. They look weighed down, no longer snug around Ichigo’s waist. A large, brown stain has developed right on the backside, clearly soaking through the cotton guarding. The stain even seeped through the leg holes, caking the back of her thighs with a muddy substance. Even the base of her tails are covered in the brown mass from her ass.

Kip keeps his mouth closed, keeping Momo, who’s fallen back unconscious, away from Ichigo. He understands when someone has had a long day. Especially one that has left someone scared…

...shitless…

♥♥♥

Somewhere, somehow, someone is closing a drawer. He leaves a note on top of the drawer, as well as something glass-like, as he looks towards an old lady, sweating, coughing in her sleep. He pulls the blanket up on her, as he walks towards the door.

“Make sure they read it when they arrive,” he says, coldly.

He walks through, fading out from the scene.

♥♥♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo's Accidents -- 6 (7)  
> Momo's Accidents -- 2  
> Ichigo's Underwear -- Makeshift Training Pants (Sweaty/Wet/Damaged/Messy)  
> Momo's Underwear -- Bare-Buttocks (Wet/Sweaty)
> 
> Kip's Incredulity -- 103%


End file.
